


Kira's adventures through the Who'Niverse: Getting back to the Doctor

by Anestassia



Series: Kira's Adventures Through the Fandoms [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Sherlock (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-12
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1772035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anestassia/pseuds/Anestassia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm happy that people seem to like this! I also noticed that people were wondering why Kira was a bit out of character. I hope that this chapter explains it a little, and it should be explained more as the story progresses.</p></blockquote>





	1. Metting at 221b

Kira gave a great heaving gasp as her eyes shot open. Her body was burning. She wasn't sure how, or why, but it was burning. And it hurt. She twisted and turned, barely noticing that she was no longer in Platform One with the Doctor, instead she was traveling through the vortex, time and space twisting and forming around her. She burned gold as she fell through the vortex passing out from the pain of it all.

* * *

John Watson's POV

* * *

It was a normal day at baker street, or as normal as it could get with Sherlock around. Sherlock and I were sitting in the living room, I had just gotten back from shopping as Sherlock browsed the computer, while, my computer. I had just sat down in my chair, thinking of a way to ask him if I could borrow some money to pay the bills when a bright golden light filled the room. Just as quickly as the light appeared it disappeared, leaving behind a young girl.

The girl looked to be about 4 or 5 years of age with long straight brown hair and freckles dusting her cheeks. She was wearing a purple sweater that ended somewhere around the center of her stomach with a blue tank top underneath. Dark blue shorts with rose's printed all over them and a utility belt of sorts holding them up and thigh high socks that looked like a quilt with all the different colors and patterns stitched together finished off with brown boots that reached her calf. The girl collapsed onto the floor, and shuddered a bit. I was stunned, unable to do anything other than stare, and I was happy to see that Sherlock shared my shock.

It wasn't until Mrs. Hudson entered to room, looking at the girl with worried, wide eyes and mentioning a loud thump that I snapped out of my initial shock and moved to help Mrs. Hudson set the girl on the couch. I set a thin blanket on her and checked her pulse before leaving to go get a wet washcloth to help cool her down. The poor girls pulse was far too fast and erratic to be healthy, and for some reason she was burning up, probably what ever caused her to appear in that golden light

Once I was convinced that the child was as comfortable as she could be I settled down in the last free chair and waited for her to wake up. As I waited I watched the girl toss and turn in her sleep, her face scrunched up like she was having a bad dream. About an hour pass when she finally woke up. I waited to let her get accustomed to her surroundings before going to introduce myself and asking her how she'd gotten here. She might be a child, but she must have some idea of how she'd gotten here, some explanation.

* * *

Kira's POV

* * *

I woke with a groan, though my voice was a far too high pitched to be my own. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. First thing I noticed was that I was laying on a rather large couch, and I had something wet on my forehead. I moved to sit up, but found myself tangled in a dark blue blanket. After a moment of struggle I finally got my arms free and noticed something disastrous.

My hands were too small to be my own. Infact, if I was to guess I'd say my hands were about as small as a 5 year old Childs. I had barely gotten my upper body free from the confines of my cloth prison when a very familiar face made it's way into my field of vision. I stopped struggling to get out of the blanket wrapped around me as I stared up at the face of none-other than Martin Freemen, or John Watson if his sweater was anything to go by. He looked down at me with concern clear in his eyes as he moved to set his hand against my forehead, removing the wet thing, which I could now see was a wash cloth, as he did so.

"Hmm, well it seems that you're temperature has finally dropped." John said, his tone just as worried as his eyes. He moved his hand down and grabbed my wrist, timing my heartbeat. "But you're heart is still going far to fast and erratic to be healthy. You might need to take a trip to the hospital Princess." John said, his gaze moving from my wrist to my eyes. I tilted my head and idly wondered why he seemed so tall and big. That is, until he asked his next question.

"Princess, can you tell me your name and how old you are?" That was when it occurred to me that he wasn't tall, I was just short. And the reason why my hands were so small and chubby was because they were a Childs hands. I moved to push the rest of the blanket off of my lower body but John stopped me with a hand on my own. "Is everything okay? Can you talk?" He asked. It seemed like John didn't know what to make of me.

"Um, I'm Kira. And last I checked I was 17 years old." I answered, watching in amusement as John's eyes widened in surprise at that statement. It seemed like he didn't believe me. "Um, I mean. I know I look younger, but trust me, I've lived for at least 17 years." I added.

John laughed a moment at the insanity of the idea, but stopped when his eyes met mine. I guess he saw something. He paused a moment, staring at my eyes and assessing my face to see if I could be lying. After the moment's pause he kneeled down in front of me, a very serious look on his face.

"Kira, I can believe you, if you explain to me how. I mean, there's got to be a rational explanation for all of this." John said. I wondered if that was true, if he would really believe me, but I guess spending as much time as he did with Sherlock made the impossible seem possible. With a heavy sigh I thought about all the possibilities.

"Well, I'm sure it had to do with how I got here. I mean, I shouldn't even be here. Well, It's not like I should have been where I was before I was here but after being there being here is even more unlikely." I rambled on, trying to work everything out in my head when an idea came to mind. I turned towards John, who currently looked very confused, and asked the first question that came to mind.

"John, how did I get here? Was there anything odd about the way I appeared?" I asked, curious. If I was right, that could explain everything and maybe more. John scratched the side of his head as he seemed to think about this.

"Well, you did appear in a flash of golden light." John answered, a little hesitant. That seemed to do the trick. Possibilities seemed to rush into my mind like a wave after a broken dam. My mind was moving rapidly from possibility to possibility without stop. I remembered leaving the Doctor in a golden light, burning through the vortex as time and space moved around me. I remembered the pain in my chest along with the pounding in my skull. And it all made sense.

"I think I know what happened!" I yelled out, causing John to jump a bit. "I must have been traveling through the Vortex! All of time and space moving around me must have changed my physical age! Oh it all makes so much sense now! But, it shouldn't. It shouldn't make sense at all. Maybe something else changed, maybe it changed my DNA as well. What was that you said? About my heartbeat being too fast and erratic?" I asked, finally stopping my ramble. John just nodded his head slowly, like he was a bit lost trying to listen to me. "Well then, did you just check through my pulse point or did you use a stethoscope?" I continued my questioning. If I was right, and oh how I hoped I was right, then that could be the most important detail.

"Uh, pulse point. Why? Does it matter?" John asked, obviously confused by my rambling and seemingly random questions. Instead of answering him I simply moved my hands to my chest, slightly surprised by how flat it was, but pushing that shock to the back of my mind so I could focus on the most important part. My heartbeat, or heartsbeat as it were. I had two. Two hearts, a larger, or at least more developed brain and if I'm right, I should have a respiratory bypass system. Oh that was just, that was just fantastic!

"Oh Dear Doctor John Watson it makes all the difference. All the difference in the world. You see, It's not that I've got an erratic heartbeat. Rather, it's I have two hearts. Two separate hearts beating in my chest. And do you know what that means? Oh what am I talking about, of course you don't. I'm a TimeLord. Or is it TimeLady? I suppose it's all up to the persons preference. Hmm, I'll be a TimeLady. That way it's stays as it should be, the Doctor being the last of the TimeLords. But how did I become one? Was it just the strain of traveling through the vortex? Oh no, that can't be right, I was changing before I traveled here. Maybe I've always been one? Oh well, that's a question for another day I suppose. Oh, I guess I'm getting off topic aren't I. Well then, back on topic. I think I changed, I became younger that is, due to the instability of a single person traveling through the time vortex without a case or 'ride' if you will. Traveling through time and space put too much stress on my body, so my body changed to compensate." I finished my explanation. Or, what was meant to be an explanation. John looked positively lost. I was about to try explaining again when a voice interrupted me.

"So your reasoning for being so young when you're not suppose to be is that the Time Vortex changed you? And I suppose you expect us to know what this Time Vortex is don't you Ms. Kira." A cold, calculative voice said. I turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. I knew that voice, it was oh so distinct. That, was the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. Well, I suppose in this universe it's the voice of the great Consulting Detective Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock walked into my field of vision.

"Yes well, I suppose you won't know what the Time Vortex is will you. Though I'm not sure how I'd go about explaining it. I suppose I could just say that it's a vortex where all of time and space meet, a place where, if one could travel through it, they'd have all of time and space as a destination. I suppose that's the best way of explaining it. Though, I can also say that there is more than one Time Vortex. At least, in theory there should be. There should be a Time Vortex for each and every separate universe in existence, and I suppose, for me to be here, those different Time Vortex's must converge and meet at certain points." I tried to explain. Sherlock seemed to understand what I was trying to say, if the look of concentration was anything to go by.

"Hm, interesting theory, but you have no way of proving it. So that is what it shall stay. A theory." Sherlock said, turning to walk away. But I couldn't let him do that. I wasn't quite sure why, but I needed him to understand and believe me. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was the best chance I had at finding a way to get back to the Doctor.

"I can prove it if you'd like. I can't show you the Vortex, at least, not yet. But I can prove that I have future knowledge that no one should have unless they've witnessed your future." I said slowly, watching Sherlock's reaction. He seemed intrigued, but far from convinced. I knew it was dangerous, telling someone their future. I had to choose what I said carefully, make sure that it was something that wouldn't change the future to much. "Where are you? I mean, what was the last case you solved and how long ago was it?" I asked both Sherlock and John.

"Our last case? Don't you mean our first case?" John asked, obviously still confused. That little piece of information caused my eyes to widen in surprise. It was that early in their timeline?

"So that means that you've only gotten as far as 'A Study in Pink? That's just... so early in your timeline. Hm, then, if my memory's correct, your next big case will be-" Everything went golden as I fell back onto the couch, my body convulsing as I struggled to breath. Everything burned again, and I feared that I'd leave again, that I'd open my eyes and find myself in some other, new and far away place. The burning lasted for what felt like years but in truth, was only a few seconds.

I opened my eyes, unsure of when I closed them and looked around. I was still in 221b, with a concerned John and curious Sherlock standing over me. I moved my hand into my field of vision and was slightly relieved as well as disappointed to find that it was still the hand of a 5 year old.

"Well, that wasn't fun at all." I groaned, moving to sit up and run my hand through my hair. It was then that I noticed how long it really was and I grimaced. I hated having long hair. It's not that I had anything against long hair, It's just too hard to take care of. I turned towards John and Sherlock, surprised to see that they were still watching me with the same concerned and curious expressions as before. "What? What's wrong?" I asked, my tone becoming nervous. I just I wasn't quite sure why, part of me thought that I wasn't done changing. Or, as the Doctor would say, I was still cooking. And I was scared about what that change would turn out to be.

"Um. Y-Your eyes." John stuttered. I looked from John to Sherlock, waiting to see if either of them would explain what was so odd. After a moment of silence I stood up and ran to where I assumed the restroom would be, luckily I was right. I rushed into the room and stared at my reflection in a mixture of shock and aww. My eyes were, instead of there normal dark brown, a mesmerizing mix of gold, silver, blue, and purple. They looked, in all honesty, like the Time Vortex.

* * *

Sherlock Holmes POV

* * *

The girl was interesting, without a doubt, but she was an anomaly. Not only the way she appeared, or her odd changes in physical appearances, but her mannerisms as well. She acted and held herself like a young adult. I was, regrettably, surprised to see her appear in a flash of golden light. Though there are many ways to explain her sudden appearance with science and deduction, none of them fit quite right. There was always a blank space, an area left to chance.

That was unacceptable. Now there was the odd seizure the child had that had further changed her physical appearance. She was, without a doubt, an anomaly I wished to get to the bottom of. A puzzle that I couldn't wait to solve. This child, no, this anomaly will not stay a mystery long. I will solve this puzzle soon.


	2. The Blind Banker 1: I call an Old Friend

* * *

Kira's Point of View

* * *

I was staring at my reflection in the mirror, trying to avoid looking into my eyes and instead focusing on the rest of my now younger appearance. I was shorter than before, not even reaching 3 feet tall, meaning I had to stand on my tippy-toes to see into the mirror. I studied my small pale chubby cheeks covered with pale brown freckles and dusted with the natural blush you'd see on every child's face. Basically, I looked like I did when I was really truly 5.

I was happy to see that my cloths shrunk down to my new size and I wondered if the TARDIS had something to do with it. I hopelessly wished that I could ask the Doctor when a small light bulb go off in my head. I still had the phone. The special phone that the Doctor gave me. The special phone that could supposedly call people no matter what time or universe they were in.

With quick, small, trembling hands I reached into my utility belt and pulled out the phone as quickly as possible. It was a bit big and hard to hold in my small, child sized hands but I managed well enough. With quick, sure fingers I turned it on the same way the Doctor had told me and began playing around with it, trying to find the contact list so I could try and call the Doctor. It didn't take long for me to find the pre-programmed number and press the call button. I waited with a bated breath as the phone rung. Once, twice, and then someone picked it up.

"Hello?" A familiar northern accent greeted. It was the 9th Doctor. I let out a small cheer of victory, running out of the bathroom and into the sitting room, a wide smile on my face.

"Doctor! Doctor, Doctor, Doctor! I've missed you oh so much! Though, mind you, I haven't been gone all that long but still. The fact stands that I've missed you. Ah, wait, you might not recognize me I'm-" I rambled into the phone in excitement, only to be cut of by the Doctor's own equally excited voice.

"Keeper! It's really you! It's been awhile since I've heard you this young, where are you now? Better question, when are you now?" The Doctor rambled on, surprising me with how excited he was and the name he called me. I was about to correct him when I remembered the writing on my wrist. That must be where he got it, or where I got it. I wasn't quite sure yet.

"Yes well, Doctor dear. I'm currently in an Alternate Universe, but that's beside the point. The real question is when are you? What was the last thing that happened with you Doctor?" I asked. It was far from the reason why I called him, but that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was the Doctor. I remember how sad he was when he saw the writing on my wrist like he thought I was dead, the look of loss and devastation in his eyes when he realized that I had just met him, that I was a different person than the one he knew so well.

"Hm, well I just finished swimming away from a rather dramatic trip on the Titanic. We were there before, remember." The Doctor said, a far away sound in his voice, like he was remembering something from long ago.

"We've been there before, but, why are you there now Doctor? That's incredibly dangerous. Two of you in one place." I decided to play along. At this point I had no idea how the Doctor would react to the news that I wasn't who he hoped I was. I was positive that something was up. The Doctor wouldn't be this reckless unless he had no other choice.

"Well, I just. I mean. Y-You di-" The Doctor stumbled over his words, trying to find the right way to explain it. I knew what he was going to say, the first thing he said when he saw the Gallifrayen written on my wrist. That I died. I had to stop him, somehow tell him that it was still early in my timeline.

"Don't say it Doctor. It hasn't happened to me yet, I can't know about it before it happens." I cut him off, trying to make him see reason. At this point I was completely ignoring the other two occupants of the room. I had no doubt that John was confused beyond belief and that Sherlock was piecing the puzzle together.

"But I need to change it! Stop it from happening! I've got to save you before it's too late. I-I can't handle your death. Do you know what I did? Do you know what your death drove me to do? Please, I need to warn you, I need to stop it." The Doctor was begging me now, and I just couldn't handle it. I moved the phone away from my ear and let out a quiet sob, trying to hold back my tears. It was harder than it should have been, I suppose it had something to do with my new body. Yeah, that's it. The reason why I couldn't help but cry at the Doctor's words was the fault of my childish body, it must have been affecting my hormones or something like that. Slowly I lifted the phone back to my ear, my hand trembling with all the emotion I was trying to suppress.

"Doctor, you can't change it. It's happened and that's that. You know that. Come now, I've got something I need to ask you." I spoke slowly, my voice slightly trembling with my words. I took another deep breath, trying to collect my emotions. "I need you to do me a favor. Soon your going to meet a girl named Kira, she's just going to appear one day and I need you to do something for me. After she get's changed, I need you to slip a sonic screwdriver into a hidden pocket in the bag on her belt without her noticing. Can you do that for me? Oh, she'll also need some physic paper like yours." I tried my best to keep my voice calm, though it was a bit softer then I was used to. It sounded odd, hearing my words from a Childs mouth, but I suppose it wasn't all that bad though.

"Yeah, I suppose I could do that. Why? What's so important about this Kira girl." The Doctor asked, his voice slightly hollow. I felt terrible and my heart screamed at me, telling me to run to him and give him a great big hug and tell him that everything would be okay. But I couldn't do that at the moment. First, I had to find a way to get back to him, then I could hug him all I wanted and never let go.

"You'll find out. Trust me." I said, a small hint of a smile on my face. Though the Doctor was sad when he found out that it was my first time meeting him, I remember a hint of hope on his face. Hope that he'd see me again, that he'd still get to spend time with me, or rather, with the Keeper.

"Fine, I'll do as you ask. But, please, in return, just be careful." The Doctor's voice was pleading. I gave a large sigh.

"Fine Mom, I'll be careful." I joked, using my small body and light voice to my advantage by trying to lift his spirits. I heard a small chuckle over the line.

"Now, now. Wouldn't want me to tell your father about this would you? I'm sure he'd agree with me." The Doctor joked back. I heard a loud hum of agreement from the TARDIS on the other end of the line and made the educated guess that the TARDIS was my 'father' in this little game.

"No mummy, no need to tell Dad. I'll behave, I promise." I said in a overly childish voice. The Doctor gave a proper laugh at that, a deep and hearty chuckle.

"Good. Good bye Keeper." The Doctor said, an obvious smile in his voice. He paused a moment, like he had something else he wanted to say. I heard another sigh over the line before he ended the call. With a deep sigh of my own I put my phone away and turned to the previously ignored occupants of the room. John, as I guessed looked utterly confused and slightly intrigued well Sherlock looked like he was trying to solve a particularly annoying math problem.

"Who was that then? Your Mum?" John asked, breaking the silence of the room. I turned to John a giggled a bit. Once again slightly shocked by the high pitched sound of my voice.

"Nope. That was the Doctor. Far from my Mom. Ah, but I wouldn't put it past him to become someone's mom should the opportunity arise. Well, I suppose it depends on the Doctor you meet actually. For example, the first Doctor would never degrade himself like that. At least, I don't think he would, I don't know him well enough yet to say for sure. But the eleventh Doctor would easily take on the task of a mother." I rambled, losing my point. I suppose it's a TimeLord thing, to ramble. That, or I've seen too much Doctor Who.

"Um, I'm sorry. But there's more than one? I mean, there's obviously more than one Doctor in the world, but your talking like this Doctor is one person." John chuckled at the end, like the very thought was so impossible that it was hilarious. I was about to respond when Sherlock beat me to it.

"That's a stupid question John, of course it's one man. And he's obviously not a Doctor seeing as she called him the Doctor. Should he only be a Doctor she would have addressed him simply as my Doctor or Doctor Something or other depending on what his name is. No, there's more to it than that. This Doctor holds his title like a name. And judging by their conversation, mind you I could only hear half of it though that's more than enough, He can travel in time. Am I right girl?" Sherlock rambled on, completely stunning John silent and impressing me as well.

"The Doctor, is in fact one person. He can travel in time, though there's more to him then that. Ah, but there is something you got wrong." I said, a slight smirk on my face. Sherlock got a slightly shocked look on his face and his head shot in my direction.

"What? What did I miss?" He asked, an odd urgency in his tone. I walked up to Sherlock and looked up, my head going so far back that it was parallel with the floor due to his height.

"Simple. The Doctor is no mere man. He's a TimeLord. An alien from another planet with thirteen lives, thirteen different faces and a TARDIS. A spaceship that travels through all of time and space." I said, my smirk firmly in place. Sherlock seemed to ponder my words well John just held a look of disbelief on his face. "I can prove it. I know I said I would before, but I'll do it now if you'd like." I offered, watching as John and Sherlock looked at each other, coming to an agreement without needing to talk to each other.

"That'd be helpful." John said, answering for the both of them. I nodded and looked around the room and let a large smile spread across my face as I found what I was looking for. I motioned for John and Sherlock to come closer and pointed to a cut in the table they had set up in the kitchen.

"John, you first saw that cut today when you were putting away groceries. Something that, if I'm right, only happened a few minutes before I appeared. Sherlock, was on your computer, seemingly doing nothing of importance. But I'll tell you where this cut really came from. This cut, is from the blade of a Sikh warrior who was battling Sherlock just earlier today. The Warrior was dressed in full battle armor with traditional battle dress. Sherlock was locked in battle with said warrior well you were in your own battle with a 'chip and pin' machine if I remember right. At least, that's what you called it. Sherlock had already gotten rid of all evidence of a battle well before you got home. At least, most of the evidence. The only thing he didn't get rid of was a sword that is currently hidden under the sofa." I spoke quickly and efficiently. In truth, I was almost positive that I'd gotten it right. If I was still human, I would have missed quite a bit of it, but it seems like the larger brain that came with being a TimeLord made accessing information like that easier.

John was stunned and turned to Sherlock, looking to see if I was right. Sherlock, refused to meet John's gaze. John then turned to the sofa and slowly walked towards it. He bent down and looked under the chair. He paused for a moment before reaching his hand under the sofa and pulling out a sword. John stood up with the sword in his hand and turned from me to Sherlock, a look of disbelief on his face.

"You had a fight with a warrior and didn't tell me?" He asked, seemingly distraught by this little bit of information. My smirk fell at that.

"It wouldn't have done any good to tell you. You'd just uselessly worry and call the police." Sherlock replied, still refusing to meet John's gaze full on.

"You should have told me!" John continued, his voice rising as his face reddened in anger.

"Why? What could you possibly do with that information that would be at all productive?" Sherlock countered. Meeting John's angry gaze with a glare of his own.

With a sigh I moved towards the two bickering adults and grabbed their hands. I gave one great tug, grabbing their attention. All of a sudden I had two pairs of eyes looking at me with equally intense gazes. Though John's anger was directed at Sherlock, Sherlock's anger seemed to be directed at me. Opps.

"Yes well, you can fight like an old married couple later. Don't you have an appointment at the bank Sherlock?" I asked, trying to redirect their attention. My plan seemed to work as Sherlock let out a sigh of annoyance. With a nod of his head the tree of us left the apartment and called a cab to take us to the bank.


	3. The Blind Banker 2: The Annoying Banker

Kira's POV  
~8~

The cab ride to the bank was slightly crowded and very awkward. I was seated in between Sherlock and John, making it a bit of a squeeze. I was just happy that I was such a small child. It made it a lot less awkward. Had I been my previous size, I have no doubt that I'd be smooshed up against the other occupants of the car.

The car ride was made even more difficult by the angry tension between Sherlock and John. Apparently John was still angry at Sherlock for 'forgetting to mention' the fight between Sherlock and the Sikh warrior and wanted nothing to do with Sherlock at the moment, meaning all he could do was ask me questions. Sherlock seemed to find this highly annoying and judging by the glare he had focused on me, he thought it was all my fault. I tried my best to ignore it and Answer John's questions.

"So, you say you're from an 'Alternate Universe'. What's it like?" John asked me. He seemed honestly curious. I played with my hands and tried to keep my eyes trained on John. It proved harder than I thought it would, considering how often I glanced at Sherlock.

"Well, to be honest I was in a different universe from this one before, but I'm from a universe completely different from the one I was in before I was in this one." I attempted to explain. The blank look on John's face made it clear that I was doing a bad job. My mind rushed to come up with a good analogy for it.

"It's like. Imagine you were at a pool. Just sitting there and enjoying the calm chlorine filled waters when all of a sudden, you're pulled from the pool and dropped into a hot tub without any means of explanation. Now, you get used to the hot tub, your body is just adjusting to the different temperature and water when all of a sudden you're pulled from the hot tub much like you were the pool, only to end up in the middle of the Ocean. That's what happened to me, except instead of moving from place to place within one constant universe, I've been moving from universe to universe without a proper explanation of what's happening. And on top of it all, my body has changed from that of a 17 year old human to a 5 year old TimeLord." I rambled a bit, talking faster than I was used to and making random gestures with my hands. I'd like to say that that particular trait was something I gained only after becoming a TimeLord. But the sad truth was I've always been a bit of a rambler and I was well known among my friends for my odd hand gestures.

"I suppose I get it. So, what's the universe you're originally from like?" John looked like he somewhat understood. Though it was obvious that he still had some things he didn't quite understand.

"Well, my original universe, or I suppose you could call it my home universe, had nothing really amazing going on. Or at least, nothing that I knew about. No genius consulting detectives or time traveling aliens." I said. I had to hold back a sigh of relief as Sherlock stopped glaring at me and instead started inspecting me like he was before, like I was a puzzle that just had a few pieces put into place. I idly wondered what the cabby thought of our conversation, and if he thought I was nothing more than an imaginative little girl.

"Hm, how about this 'Doctor'. What's he like?" John continued his line of questioning. I was happy to notice that he seemed more relaxed then before, seemingly forgiving Sherlock for the moment.

"The Doctor is as his name would suggest, a healer. A man who makes people better. He's an amazing man. He's saved the universe more times than I can count. Even if he's never been in this particular universe, I can guarantee that he's saved it at least 3 times." I struggled to explain just how amazing the Doctor truly was. "He's someone who'll save everyone without even needing a reason, and then leave without a proper thankyou. He's wonderful." I zoned out a bit at that point, thinking about all the people the Doctor has saved, and all that he's lost.

~8~  
Third Person POV  
~8~

John watched the small girl with a look of amazement and curiosity with a hint of skepticism. At this point he had no doubt that this girl was something different. Not only in the way she talked, seeing as she rivaled even Sherlock with the speed of her sentences, but the way she carried herself as well. She acted like any normal teenager would, with a tad bit more responsibility than he'd expect. But if any small part of her unbelievable story was true, then that would explain why she acted so mature for her age. John gave a heavy sigh as he glanced at Sherlock. He couldn't stay mad at the man forever, no matter how much the man deserved it.

The cab slowed to a stop in front of a large, modern building. The sign in front of the building read 'Shad Sanderson Investment Bank'. The trio slid out of the cab and made their way into the bank after John payed the cabby. Kira took a quick glance at her reflection in the cab door, relieved to see that her eyes seemed to have settled on a blue with gold flecks and a slightly purple ring around the middle, no longer the swirling vortex it was before.

Kira let out a sigh and began to look at the building in front of her. It was obviously new, made up of nothing but glass doors and windows for walls. With quick, sure steps Sherlock strode into the building, John and Kira rushing to keep up with the long legged detective's stride. John looked around in awe as well, though he had a slightly troubled look on his face.

"When you said you were going to the bank..." He stated, trailing off as he continued to look around. John didn't want to impose, but he was tight on money and he was going to ask Sherlock if he could borrow some. That is, if the little girl hadn't appeared out of nowhere. He had hoped, that when Sherlock announced he was going to the bank, that he meant he was going to make a withdraw, not an investment bank. With a heavy sigh John glanced at the small girl that had literally, appeared into their life and gave her a tight smile, offering her his hand to hold so she wouldn't get lost.

Kira returned John's smile with one of her own and took the offered hand with a wide smile. She knew she should have been annoyed that he was treating her like a child despite her real age, but she couldn't bring herself to get annoyed. Honestly, she was ecstatic that he even spared her a thought. Sherlock led the pair to a reception desk. You could tell the place was successful, merely because it had so many receptionists, all busy talking on phones and making appointments. Once at the reception desk, Sherlock simply told the woman his name. The trio was then directed to a rather large office. The office was overwhelmed with chrome and large windows, screaming out how important the man who occupied it was.

"Sherlock Holmes!" A man in an expensive grey suit with slicked back hair announced as he walks into the office.

"Sebastian." Sherlock acknowledges the man. Sebastian gave Sherlock an overly enthusiastic handshake.

"How are you, buddy? How long's it been? Eight years since I last clapped my eyes on you?" Sebastian rambled out questions without pause.

"This is my friend John, and my cousin Kira." Sherlock introduced, seemingly ignoring the questions Sebastian asked. Kira tried to hold back her surprise at being introduced as his cousin. Though, she supposed it made more sense then introducing her as the alien who used to be a human that appeared in the middle of their flat without explanation or reason. Yeah, cousin was good.

The corner of Sebastian's mouth twitched as he heard how Sherlock introduced John. "Friend?" Sebastian asked with a disbelieving tone in his voice. John, apparently still miffed at Sherlock turned to Sebastian with a forced smile on his face.

"Colleague." John corrected. He figured friends would tell each other if they were locked in a death-match with some warrior from another land. After shaking John's hand Sebastian turned towards Kira. Squatting down so he was closer to her height he held out his hand.

"Hello there Kira, so what are you doing at your boring old cousins house?" He asked with a overly sweet tone to his voice. Kira thought a moment, rushing to come up with a believable lie. Calling upon her almost non-existent acting skills Kira let a childish smile stretched across her face as she rocked back on her heels.

"I'm visiting from America and momma said I could visit if I could stay with Sherlock and I'm really excited 'cause Sherlock and John are really smart and cool!" She rambled on in a gleeful childish voice. She was slightly surprised at how easy it was to lie to this man, but pushed it off as a talent of being a TimeLord. That, or due to her changed physical age it was easier to pretend. John looked surprised at her sudden childish behavior and Sherlock seemed slightly impressed if not a bit annoyed that the puzzle became even more complicated. Sebastian smiled and patted Kira on the head before standing up.

"Well aren't you lucky. You know, I need to have an important discussion with your cousin Sherlock. It's all rather boring. Would you rather sit outside with My Personal Assistant?" It was a order more than it was a question, but Kira ignored it. She shook her head with exaggerated movements and ran to Sherlock and latched onto his leg. Much like a child who refused to leave their mother on their first day of school. Inside her hearts were hammering and her head was screaming at her that she'd just latched onto Sherlock Holmes leg. But she quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, deciding to focus on her acting. Sherlock was shocked when Kira latched onto his leg, but quickly controlled his shock and smirked and went along with the act by reaching down and patting Kira on head.

"I wanna stay with Sherlock." She pouted. Kira had to fight to keep her blush down, and hoped Sebastian wouldn't notice. Before she met the Doctor, her blush would have been caused by a stupid little crush she used to have on the previously fictional character. But now that the Doctor had completely stolen her heart, or hearts as it were, she was blushing purely out of embarrassment for her childish attitude and how she was acting. Sebastian stared at Kira in shock and with a sigh of annoyance he moved back this his desk and waved a dismissive hand at the girl.

"Fine, you can stay. But I warn you, it's going to be a really boring talk." He gave the girl one last glance of annoyance before sitting down behind his desk and motioning for John and Sherlock to sit at the chairs across from him. "Grab a pew." Sherlock and John nodded, taking a seat and confronting Kira with a problem she'd failed to notice before. There were only two seats. She'd either have to sit on the floor, or stand.

She contemplated how long the meeting might take and how uncomfortable the floor was when she felt a set of large hands wrap around her midsection just under her arms and pull her up off the floor. She let out a squeak in surprise as she was picked up and set on John's lap. She leaned back and craned her head back to see the man in question smile down at her. She blushed as she turned her head to look at Sherlock, who was currently inspecting Sebastian and ignoring her and John completely.

With a nervous huff she shifted into a more comfortable position and settled down so her back was leaning against Johns stomach. She was slightly annoyed to notice that her head barely reached his chest at her current height and sighed as she was forced to remember that she was a rather short child and would remain short for quite some time. She was pulled from her musings as Sebastian's PA appeared at the door and waited as Sebastian turned to the trio sitting in front of him.

"Need something? Coffee? Water? Apple juice?" He asked, the last part directed at Kira. Kira huffed, annoyed that he was treating her like a child but resigning herself to the fact that she'd acted like a child just moments ago and brought this on herself. The trio shook there heads, rejecting the offered drinks and Sebastian turned back to his Personal Assistant "Were all sorted here thanks."

"Your doing well, spending lots of time abroad." Sherlock stated, starting the conversation.

"Well, some..." Sebastian started, no doubt about to push that topic to the side and move on to the reason he'd brought them there. But Sherlock was having none of it as he cut Sebastian off.

"Flying all around the world, twice in a month." He stated with the same sure look he got whenever he questioned a suspect. Sebastian gave a small laugh laced with annoyance as he no doubt remembered how Sherlock was before.

"Right, You're doing that thing." He said, pointing to Sherlock before turning to John and Kira. "We were at Uni together and this guy here had a trick he used to do." He started as he leaned back in his chair and settled his elbows on his lap lacing his fingers together in front of his face.

"It's not a trick." Sherlock replied, obviously annoyed that someone would degrade his talent for deduction by calling it something so trivial.

"He could look at you and tell you your whole life story." Sebastian continued, ignoring Sherlock's interruption.

"Yes, I've seen him do it." John stated in a controlled voice, wondering what Sebastian was trying to do.

"Put the wind up everybody. We hated him." Sebastian continued, ignoring the slightly uncomfortable look on Sherlock's face. Kira glared at the man, angered by his attitude and the amused tone his voice took. "You'd come down to breakfast in the formal hall and this freak would know you'd been shagging the previous night." He continued, now smirking at how he'd made Sherlock uncomfortable.

"I simply observed." Sherlock muttered in, trying to defend himself. Kira huffed and glared at Sebastian. The man was obviously pompous and held a grudge against Sherlock and his talent. With a mischievous smile she quickly pulled on a mask of innocence as she regarded the man behind the desk with wide eyes.

"What does 'shag' mean?" She asked, watching with amusement as the man stuttered, having seemingly forgotten that she was there and rushed to come up with a proper explanation. She could feel John's stomach rumble with silent chuckles and out of the corner of her eye she saw Sherlock smirk at the spectacle before him.

"W-well it's, I mean it's something, Y-Your mother and father, I mean." Sebastian stuttered to find a proper way of explaining the topic to the '5 year old girl' before him when Sherlock came to the rescue with an amused tone in his voice.

"It's a game for adults, you'll learn about it when your older." Sherlock intervened. Kira gave Sherlock a wide smile and a nod, happy that he had the upper hand again. She knew he'd never admit to feeling uncomfortable, but she knew the truth, she could see it in the way he acted. Sebastian turned back towards Sherlock with a light blush dusting his cheeks at his slip up and quickly tried to control his embarrassment as he tried to regain control of the situation.


	4. The Blind Banker 3: A new Puzzle

"Go on, enlighten me.'Two trips a month flying all the way around the world.' You're quite right. How could you tell? You're going to tell me there was a stain on my tie from some special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan?" He asked, regaining his confidence as he leaned back in his chair and gave Sherlock a condescending smirk. John gave another slight chuckle in amusement at that, causing Kira's back to bounce with the movement of his stomach.

"No, I-" Sherlock attempted to explain only to be cut off by Sebastian again.

"Or it was the mud on my shoes?" He asked again, this time looking at John like he was sharing a secret that only the shorter man would understand.

"I was just chatting with your secretary outside." Sherlock finally answered, obviously annoyed with the mans stupid assumptions and insinuations. "She told me." John's face turned from amused to confused as he turned to Sherlock with questioning eyes obviously wondering why the man had lied. Sebastian just gave a forced laugh, his arrogant smile becoming forced.

"I'm glad you could make it over. We've had a break in." Sebastian changed the topic with a clap of his hands. Sebastian then stood from his seat, prompting Sherlock and John to do the same. Kira quickly slipped off of John's lap, freeing the man to stand and stretch before following Sebastian as he exited his office.

"Sir William's office. The bank's former chairman." Sebastian began to explain as he led the trio outside of his office, Sherlock directly behind him and John and Kira a few paces behind Sherlock. John looked down at Kira and smiled, offering her his hand to hold again as they walked through the busy and loud room. Kira smiled back and took the offered hand again as she rushed to keep up with the fast paced adults and listen to Sebastian over the constant ringing of phones and murmuring of people in the trading hall.

"His room has been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broke in late last night." Sebastian continued to explain as he led the group down a row of printers.

"What did they steal?" John asked as Sebastian rushed forward . At Johns question Sebastian paused and turned towards the trio with a smirk on his face.

"Nothing. They just left a little message." He answered. Obviously eager to see how stumped they'd be when they came across the puzzle in the former chairman's office. With a swipe of his security pass and a loud beep and buzz a glass door unlocked and slid open, allowing Sebastian and the trio following him entrance into the office. The room was filled with boxes, making it obvious that someone had recently vacated it. Directly opposite the door was a good sized painting of some bald man in a black suit placed in a fancy frame directly behind the fancy leather chair and wooden desk. Someone had vandalized the painting by painting a thick, yellow line across the man's eyes. Just to the left of the painting there was more yellow writing on the wall. This one looking like a crudely drawn number eight with a dash above it.

Sebastian motioned for the others to follow them as they walked back into his office and moved behind his desk. Kira stood up on her tippy-toes and used the desk for balance as she strained to see what Sebastian was doing.

"60 seconds apart." Sebastian stated as he moved to a monitor and pressed a few buttons, bringing up the CCTV footage of the incident. The footage showed each second as a separate frame. He clicks a button so the footage shows 23:33:01, just before the room was vandalized and clicked the button again to show 23:34:01, just after.

"So someone came up here in the middle of the night, splaced paint around and left within a minute." Sebastian explained his conundrum to the trio.

"How many ways into that office?" Sherlock questioned.

"Well, that's where this gets really interesting." Sebastian stated, all previous annoyance and arrogance gone from his voice. Sebastian motioned for them to follow him again as he led them to the reception desk, causing Kira to groan as she grabbed John's hand again and followed. She didn't remember half as much walking in the show. They reached the reception desk and Sebastian pulled up a map of the floor on one of the computer's.

"Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet." Sebastian explained. Kira struggled to get on the rolling chair in front of the computer so she could see it better, causing John to chuckle at her as she accidently pushed the chair towards the wall behind it as she pushed herself on the chair. She huffed in annoyance as she turned towards the white wall and pushed off it, sending her back towards the computer, and incidentally, Sebastian. She bumped into the man, causing him to give a small grunt of surprise as he tried to catch his balance. He turned and glared at Kira, who ignored him and studied the computer in front of her.

"That door didn't open last night?" Sherlock asked, pulling Sebastian's attention off of Kira and back towards the problem at hand. Kira glanced at John, smiling slightly as she saw him shake with repressed laughter at what happened.

"There's a hole in our security." Sebastian admitted, turning his back on Kira as he fixed his suit jacket. "Find it and we'll pay you. Five figures." He stated, pulling a check from his suit jacket inside chest pocket. "This is an advance. Tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way." Sebastian said as he attempted to give Sherlock the check. Sherlock didn't seem to care though, as he studied the screen before him.

"I don't need an incentive, Sebastian." Sherlock stated in a sharp tone, turning to Sebastian for a brief moment before walking away. John watched with a stunned look on his face before turning to Sebastian himself.

"He's, uh... He's kidding you, obviously." He stuttered, glancing at the check. "Shall I look after that for him?" He asked, grabbing the check from Sebastian's hand with a quiet thanks. Kira looked up at the exchange with a roll of her eyes as she slid off the chair, causing it to roll backwards a bit. She walked forwards and grabbed John's free hand and began pulling him in the direction Sherlock walked off towards.

Kira watched with interest as Sherlock worked. They were back on the trading floor and Sherlock had taken pictures of the graffiti with his phone and was now walking from one place in the room to the next. He ignored everyone around as they watched him, most of the office workers looking at him like he was insane. Kira and John knew better. Kira knew that Sherlock was looking to see who could see the graffiti, and John, well, he just trusted Sherlock to know what he was doing. It wasn't long before they were walking out, Sherlock holding the name plaque for a "Edward Van Coon" in his hand. John was holding Kira's hand again, apparently he had decided to take the role of her caretaker while she was here if his actions were anything to go by.

""Two trips around the world this month." You didn't ask his secretary. You just said that to irritate him. How did you know?" John asked, letting his curiosity get the best of him. He had known that Sherlock had lied, and he had a hunch as to why he'd lied. But he needed confirmation from the man himself.

"Did you see his watch?" Sherlock asked, beginning his explanation.

"His watch?" John asked, a little lost as to why Sherlock had asked such a seemingly random question.

"The time was right but the date was wrong. It said two days ago. He crossed the dateline twice but he didn't alter it." Sherlock continued.

"Within a month? How did you get that part?" John questioned, still kind of lost.

"New Breitling. Only came out this February." Sherlock answered in a matter of fact tone as they stepped onto an escalator.

"Okay, so do you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer?" John asked, accepting Sherlocks explanation.

"Got everything I need to know thanks." Sherlock responded, turning down the offer.

John gave a little 'hm', prompting Sherlock to explain. He had no idea how Sherlock could get everything he needed to know in such a short amount of time.

"That Graffiti was a message." Sherlock stated. "For someone at the bank, working on the trading floors. We find the intended recipient and..." Sherlock continued to explain, pausing at the end and waiting to see if John could catch on.

"They'll lead us to the person who sent it." He finished. Kira smiled, happy to see that they were no longer fighting.

"Obvious." Sherlock muttered, though he seemed slightly happy that John had caught on. Though Kira could have been imagining it.

"Well, there's 300 people up there. Who was it meant for?" John asked, he somehow knew that Sherlock had already figured it out.

"Pillars." Sherlock said, starting his explanation.

"What?" John asked, once again lost.

"Pillars and the screens. Very few places you could see that graffiti from. That narrows the field considerably. And, of course, the message was left at 11:34 last night. That tells us a lot." Sherlock continued his explanation.

"Dose it?" John interrupted, slightly skeptical.

"Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. That message was intended for someone who came in at midnight." Sherlock continued his explanation. "Not many Van Coons in the phone book." Sherlock announced, pulling Edward Van Coon's name tag and showing it to John before rushing off to call a Taxi.

After a short ride in another Taxi, Kira once again made to sit in the middle, the trio found themselves in front of Edward Van Coon's apartment. Sherlock quickly jogged up to the door and pressed the buzzer for Van Coon's apartment as Kira and John rushed up behind him. After a moment of waiting with no answer, Sherlock pressed the button again, growing impatient.

After waiting another minute for an answer John turned to Sherlock, a resigned look in his eye. "So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back?" He asked, ready to find a place to sit. As Sherlock looked around, glancing up at the windows before quickly looking back at the intercom system.

"Just moved in." Sherlock stated, ignoring Johns question.

"What?" John asked, once again left confused by Sherlocks random statement.

"Floor above, new label." He explained, moving to buzz the floor above Van Coon's apartment.

"Could have just replaced it." John stated just as Sherlock pressed the button.

"No one ever does that. "Sherlock explained quickly.

"Hello?" A feminie voice called out from the speaker, drawing the trio's attention to it.

"Hi! Um, I live in the flat just below you. I don't think we've met?" Sherlock told the woman, Wintle, if the name tag was right.

"No, well, uh, I've just moved in." Wintle responded. Sherlock gave a small nod and quickly glanced at John, an 'I told you so' expression on his face.

"Actually I just locked my keys in my flat." He stated, sounding truly sheepish about the whole thing. "Yeah, and can I use your balcony?"

"What?" Wintle asked, sounding confused.


	5. The Blind Banker 4: The Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy that people seem to like this! I also noticed that people were wondering why Kira was a bit out of character. I hope that this chapter explains it a little, and it should be explained more as the story progresses.

Kira and John soon found themselves standing outside Van Coon's apartment, waiting for Sherlock to open the door for them. John had quickly grown worried and began frantically pressing the buzzer. "Sherlock!" He called out over the intercom, the worry clear in his voice. After hearing nothing but silence on the other side of the door John squeezed Kira's hand in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Sherlock, you okay?"

After another minute of waiting Johns worry morphed into annoyance as he glared at the buzzer in front of him. "Yeah, any time you feel like letting us in." John tightened his grip on Kira's hand again, part from worry for Sherlock and part from anger just  _knowing_  that Sherlock was ignoring him. John gave a frustrated sigh as he let go of Kira's hand and started pacing the sidewalk.

Kira moved to sit on one of the steps that led to the building, watching John as he paced. She knew that right about now Sherlock would have found Van Coon's dead body, meaning he'd probably already called Scotland Yard and that meant that John and her probably had to wait for the police to arrive _before_  they could get into the building. But Kira also knew that, with her current child-like appearance, no one would let her within a 20 foot radius of Van Coon's body. Something she really didn't mind too much. What she did mind, was being separated from John and Sherlock for however long it took them to examine the body.

She felt lost in this Universe. While she was in the Doctor's Universe, she was always by his side, always knew what was going on and who she could trust. But here things were different. Here she only really _knew_  2 people, and out of everyone she had seen while watching the shows, she could only trust about 5 of them. Those people being Sherlock, John, Molly, Lestrade, Mycroft, and Mrs. Hudson. 3 of those people were quite a distance away and had no idea who she was, and Sherlock and John would be busy with the body, leaving her to sit out in the hallway on her own until they finished.

Kira was quickly pulled from her thoughts by her phone dinging, pulling her attention to it. With clumsy hands she pulled her phone from it's pocket on her utility belt and turned it on. John watched on in mild fascination as Kira pulled the odd high-tech phone out. Kira quickly checked to see what the odd ding ment, surprised to find out that it was an alert for something scheduled into the phone.

_March 23th, 2010_

_Check Schedule and Notebook. Update Diary_   
_(Good Luck)_

Kira stared at the message in wonder until the police arrived, pulling her from her thoughts. John had apparently sat down beside her while she was zoned out and kept on glancing between her and her phone in wonder, obviously curious and slightly worried for the girl. What ever the message said (He couldn't read it, it seemed to be written in some odd language) it seemed to have shocked the girl enough to make her ignore him completely.

Kira sighed and stood up, putting her phone away and brushing her shorts free of dirt as John pushed himself off the floor to stand beside her. Kira watched in wonder as the police got out of their cars and started walking towards the apartment building with purpose. Kira turned to John, who seemed to be talking to an officer, trying to get the man to let him and Kira inside the building.

A few minutes later found Kira sitting in the lobby of the apartment building as John and Sherlock examined Van Coon's body. She was right, they wouldn't even let her on the same  _floor_  as Van Coon's body. John was reluctant to leave her there at first, but she'd managed to convince him that she'd be alright. That, and John had demanded that a nearby officer watch her while he was away. That's how she found herself sitting on a rather large chair and playing on her phone.

She was trying to find the 'Schedule, Notebook and Diary' functions on it. After a few minutes of searching Kira had finally found the Notebook app. The Notebook held several sections all labeled differently, some filled with writing and some blank. She decided to look at the section labeled _'Me, Myself and I'_. The section contained multiple chapters, all titled with different dates. Kira opened up the first one, dated March 23rd 2010 and read the entry, her eyes widening in shock as she took in the information.

> _To be read March 23rd, 2010._
> 
> _How to read someone's mind._
> 
> _It is easiest to read someones mind while in contact with them, though it is not required. To read someone's mind, one must concentrate on the mind they wish to read. Focus on the brainwaves of that person and try and tune your mind into theirs. It may be difficult, but the more one practices this skill the better at it one gets. Be warned that it is taxing on the mind the first few times it is attempted._

Kira was stunned. She knew that TimeLords had the ability to read minds, she'd seen the Doctor do it plenty of times on the show, but it was still hard for her to believe that she was a TimeLord and that she could now read peoples minds and regenerate and do other TimeLord things.

Curious to see if it'd work Kira decided to attempt reading someone's mind. She quietly looked around, trying to see who's mind she'd want to read. Finally she settled on the mind of the police man who was left to keep watch over her. Sean, if she remembered correctly. John had practically ordered that the man stay behind and keep an eye on her.

Kira quickly put her phone away in her utility belt before pushing herself off her chair and walking over to Sean, who was standing by the door to the apartment building and watching the people walk around outside, seemingly annoyed with his forced duty as a babysitter.

Kira walked up to Sean and tugged on his pant-leg in an attempt to gain his attention, putting on the most Innocently curious face she could muster as he turned to look down at her.

"Um, Officer Sean, I have a question..." Kira asked. Trying to think of a way to distract the man so she could attempt to read his mind. Sean looked down at her with a soft smile as he crouched down so he was at her level.

"What is it little girl? You can ask me anything you'd like."

Kira paused, trying to think of the perfect question that would distract him. "Um, what's it like being a policeman? Is it hard? Is it dangerous and scary?" She asked, settling on a rather simple question. She had considered asking him how babies were made, but she had a feeling that he'd run away or ask someone else to answer the question for her.

Sean paused a moment before answering, seeming to consider his answer. Kira took this moment to put her plan into action and grasp his hand, trying to establish a form of contact to make it easier to read his mind. Sean glanced at her a moment before giving her hand a little squeeze and answering her question.

"Well, it's kinda hard. I won't lie. There's lots of paperwork and rules and it can be scary at times. But it's also rewarding." Sean explained. He continued to list all the good things about his job but Kira wasn't listening. Instead she was concentrating, attempting to read his mind. It was hard, and she was getting a rather painful headache, but after a couple of minutes Kira was finally able to get an inkling of what he was thinking.

She couldn't get much, nothing more than fleeting surface thoughts. Simple things like  _'I wonder what dinner will be?'_  and  _'Do I have any milk left?'_  but they were someone else's thoughts none-the-less. She was reading someone else's mind. It was astounding and impossible and just plain amazing. In fact, Kira was so amazed that she didn't even notice she was making a weird face until Sean thought  _'Is she alright? She looks like she's in pain.'_

Kira's eyes snapped open at that thought, though she wasn't sure when she'd closed them, and glanced up at the man, trying to remember what the last thing he'd said was. She was vaguely aware that he'd asked her a question, but she couldn't quite remember what it was, and the headache that she'd gotten from reading his mind was making it rather hard for her to concentrate.

"Um, Yes?" Kira asked more then answered, hoping that her answer made sense. Sean seemed to look at her intently for a moment before accepting her answer.

"Okay then. But if you start feeling sick you should tell me, okay? Promise?" Sean told her, seemingly genuinely worried about her. Kira smiled at that, happy that someone cared. She had been worried, that she'd be all alone here. Even though John had made it clear that he cared, she knew that there'd be points where they wouldn't be together, and she had no idea what she'd do during those points. That's why she was happy that someone else cared, even if she'd never seen him on the show, she had a feeling that she could trust him.

"Okay! I promise!" Kira answered, her smile widening as she felt her headache dissipate. Sean smiled at that, seeming to sense the sincerity in her words.

"Good. Now do you have any more questions? Or would you like to play a game while we wait for your friends to return?" Sean asked, seeming to have warmed up to the idea of taking care of Kira while John was away.

Kira thought about it a moment when an idea popped into her head. "I've got cards! We can play a card game!" She smiled, opening up her side bag and fishing around for her deck of cards. After a few minutes of her searching her bag, and Sean watching on amused as she seemed to push her arm further and further into her bag in search of her card deck, she had finally found it. Letting out little "Ah,ha!" of victory, Kira pulled her card deck from her bag. Sean smiled and settled down on the floor, Kira sitting down across from him as she pulled the cards out of there case.

~8~

John and Sherlock were finally done with the crime scene and walking down to the lobby to pick up Kira. John was grumbling, annoyed with Sherlock and his attitude while Sherlock just seemed to be piecing together a puzzle when they heard laughter coming from the lobby. Intrigued the duo walked into the lobby and began looking for the source of the laughter.

They didn't have to look hard, since the laughter was coming from a rather large group of police officers sitting on the floor in a circle playing cards with Kira, who was currently sitting on Seans lap as he seemed to ask her a question about the cards in his hand. Kira seemed to think a moment before whispering something to Sean in a conspiratorial fashion. Sean nodded and pulled a card from his hand, setting it down on top of pile of cards set in the middle of the group.

"Draw four cards Grace, and I change the colour to blue!" Sean called out, a large smile on his face as the group seemed to groan in unison as a rather pretty police woman to the left of Sean pulled four cards from the top of a deck of face down cards. Kira laughed, her smile only seeming to widen when she saw John and Sherlock. She quickly whispered something to Sean, who glanced at the Detective duo and nodded. Sean moved so Kira could stand up and began collecting the cards from his coworkers, signaling the end of the game as Kira ran towards John and hugged him, a bright smile on her face before quickly moving to Sherlock and hugging him as well.

She knew she was acting childish, but she blamed it on her body. It seemed that her emotional development had reverted to that of a Childs when her body changed. Meaning that, despite her true age and knowledge, she'd still act and react like a child, if only slightly more mature and composed. That, and she kinda enjoyed the fact that she could hug Sherlock and John without repercussion.

"John! Sherlock! Are you finally done examining Van Coon's body?" Kira asked, not really caring that Sherlock seemed stunned and slightly unnerved by her hug while John seemed amused by Sherlock's reaction.

"Yes Kira, we're done. I take it you and Officer Jackson had fun?" John asked, holding back a chuckle at the look on Sherlocks face.

Kira glanced back at Sean, who was currently walking towards them, nodding with a wide smile on her face. Kira and Sean had started out playing go-fish. But somehow it had morphed into a game of Uno with 7 other officers. Kira had trouble holding the cards in her rather small and chubby hands, so instead Sean and Kira played as a team, Sean holding the cards and Kira telling Sean what to do.

"Yeah, we had a lot of fun." Sean answered for Kira, having overheard John's question. Sean crouched down in front of Kira and handed her the Uno deck with a smile.

"Here are you're cards back. It was great playing with you Kira." Sean stated, ruffling Kira's hair as she put the deck in her side bag. Kira let out a mock annoyed huff as she tried to straiten her hair out, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she did so.

"Thank you Officer Sean! I had a lot of fun! Thanks for looking after me while John and Sherlock were busy." Kira thanked the man, somewhat sad that she was basically saying goodbye, but happy that she'd made a friend.

"No prob." Sean stated, moving to stand up and shake John's hand as he said goodbye. John looked down at Kira, an amused expression on his face. He'd noticed that she was acting more like a child her age should act and less like a teenage alien from a different universe. Not that he knew what a teenage alien from a different universe would act like, but he noticed that she seemed to be settling down a bit more. Getting used to herself and her surroundings. John glanced at Sherlock, who seemed to be looking at Kira with an annoyed look on his face.

And annoyed was truly how Sherlock felt. The puzzle that was Kira had just become even more complicated. With her change in character and her far to formal actions Sherlock wasn't sure what to make of the girl. With an annoyed sigh Sherlock quickly began walking out of the building, leaving John and Kira to follow as he called a cab. He had to talk with Sebastian. The sooner the better.


	6. The Blind Banker 5: An Unconventional Business Meeting

Sherlock stepped out of the cab and walked into a rather fancy looking restaurant, Kira and John following behind him. John had, once again, taken Kira's small hand in his own once they got out of the cab. It seemed to be a habit for him now. Something he did out of reflex.

Sherlock had strode towards a small square table that Sebastian and his business associates were sitting at, laughing at some joke that Sebastian had said before they walked in.

"It was a threat; that's what the graffiti ment." Sherlock stated as he stopped in front of Sebastian, leaving the table in an awkward silence at the intrusion.

"I'm kind of in a meeting." Sebastian said, glancing from Sherlock to the business associates surrounding him. "Can you make an appointment with my secretary?" He asked, obviously annoyed with Sherlock and trying to get the man and his little posse to leave.

Sherlock breathed in through clenched teeth before sighing out. "I don't think this can wait. Sorry, Sebastian." Sounding sincere, though his face looked indifferent. "One of your traders, someone who works in your office, was killed." Sherlock spoke, his tone now harsh. Kira watched as the small forced smile Sebastian was wearing dropped at Sherlock's words.

"What?" Sebastian asked, surprised. He clearly hand't expected Sherlock to say that.

"Van Coon. The police are at his flat." John answered this time, tightening his hold on Kira's hand slightly. He knew that she was, technically, old enough to deal with death. But he didn't like having her around to hear such a morbid discussion. Despite what she'd told him, he could still only see her as a 5 year old little girl.

"Killed?" Sebastian asked, sounding truly shocked at that little tidbit of information.

"Sorry to interfere with everyone's digestion." Sherlock stated, glancing around at the table of business associates. "Still want to make an appointment? Would maybe 9:00 at Scotland Yard suit?" Sherlock asked, making Kira giggle.

She knew that this was a rather morbid discussion, but she couldn't hold back her laugh at the look on Sebastian's face. John, who seemed to hear her quite giggle looked down at her in slight surprise. She'd been so quite throughout most of the investigation, that he'd almost forgotten just how talkative and active she was when he'd first met her. It was slightly worrying, how much she seemed to be withdrawing. John was quickly pulled from his thoughts by Sebastian standing up and gesturing that Sherlock and John follow him.

John was about to follow the duo, but was stopped by Kira pulling her hand out of his. He glanced down at her, trying to see why she'd let go of his hand when he noticed where she was looking. Following her gaze he realized that Sebastian was leading Sherlock and him towards the restroom. The mens restroom. With a sigh John looked down at the three business men that still sat at the table, whispering to themselves about what had just transpired.

Clearing his throat to draw their attention towards him John glanced between the business men and Kira. "Would you mind watching her while I..." John trailed off, looking pointedly at the restroom door and hoping that the men would understand what he'd ment. The business men glanced at each other a moment before looking at Kira and then settling their eyes on John, one of them hesitantly nodding his head. John let out a slight sigh of relief at that and jogged to catch up to Sherlock and Sebastian, hoping that he hadn't missed out on too much of the conversation.

Kira looked at the three business men with interest as they looked at her with uncertainty. If she had to guess, she'd say that none of them had to take care of a child before. With a wide smile in her face Kira moved to sit on the plush stool that Sebastian had vacated. Though her smile fell when she realized that she was too short to just sit on the stool, and instead she have to climb on to it. Using her small arms to pull herself up as her feet pushed off the floor Kira had managed to get herself onto the stool.

Kira had to hold back a huff of annoyance when she realized that she was barely tall enough to see over the edge of the marble slab of a table. Instead she looked at all the business men, who seemed to be watching her with some odd mixture of amusement and nervousness and gave them a large smile.

"Hello! I'm Kira. I'm Sherlock's cousin." She introduced herself, deciding to use the lie that Sherlock had told Sebastian. The men glanced at each other before the one to her left, a man with glasses who seemed to be hunched over in an attempt to appear less intimidating, gave her a nervous smile and introduced himself.

"Uh, hello there Kira. I'm Clyde." He seemed to hesitate a moment before offering her his hand to shake. Kira looked down at his hand a moment before taking it in her own. She could only really hold 3 of his fingers, but it was good enough for a handshake. After she was done shaking Clyde's hand, or attempting to at least, the business man across from her introduced himself.

"I'm Darren." The man stated with a slightly nervous smile. Kira giggled a bit and waved at him, turning to the last man, who was sitting to her right, as he introduced himself.

"Kevin." The man gave his name with a kind smile, seeming far more comfortable then the other two did. Kira gave the man a smile and a wave in greeting. Once the introductions where done with Kira looked at all three men, or looked as well as she could considering she could barely see over the table edge, and tried to think of something they could do to pass the time.

~8~

When John, Sherlock and Sebastian had left the bathroom, they were stunned at the sight that met them in the restaurant. Kira and the three business men were all sitting at the table and laughing at each other. It appears that while the trio where gone, Kira had somehow gotten the three business men to play the Post-it game with her.

"Am I... Pretty?" Clyde asked, playfully batting his eyes at the table, causing the three playing with him to burst out into laughter.

"Yes Clyde, your a very pretty woman." Darren answered through bouts of laughter, trying hard to compose himself. Kira and Kevin didn't seem to care though, and just continued laughing, ignoring the looks the other customers of the restaurant gave them.

"Okay. Next question. Am I real?" He asked, everyone seeming to settle down a bit.

"Nope. Your as real as Kevin's  _'girlfriend'_. Now it's my turn. Am I furry?" Darren asked, chuckling as everyone else tried to hold in their laughs at his response.

"Nope. Bald as my Uncle Jeff. My turn. Am I tall?" Kevin asked, seeming to stretch out his back in an attempt to make himself appear taller. Everyone chucked at that, shaking their heads in the negative.

"Sorry Kevin. You're actually really  _really_  short." Clyde answered, laughing at the disappoint look on Kevin's face before turning to Kira and waiting for her to make a guess at her own Post-it note.

"Um, am I Batman?" She asked, smiling as everyone cheered. Signaling that she'd gotten it right. Kira jumped in her seat, excited that she'd won the game and completely oblivious to John, Sherlock and Sebastian walking up behind her.

"Well, looks like you guys had fun while we were away..." John started as he moved to stand behind Kira, trailing off when he read the Post-it notes on everyone's foreheads. Once he'd finished reading them all he shook with repressed laughter. Clyde was Catwoman, Darren was a Dolphin, and Kevin was Bilbo Baggins.

Kira leaned back, craning her head back so she could see John standing behind her. John looked down at Kira and gave a small laugh at the Post-it Note that was stuck to her forehead under her bangs that read 'Batman'. With a gentle hand John took the Post-it off her Kira's forehead, before patting her head with a fond expression on his face and smoothing her bangs back into place.

Kira's smile softened at the action as she closed her eyes and seemed to bask in the attention John was giving her. After a moment Kira leaned forward in her seat, her back and neck had started to ache from the awkward angle she had them at, and smiled at the men she had been playing the Post-it game with. Kira slipped off the stool she was sitting on and walked over to Clyde, giving his leg an awkward hug before moving on to Darren and Kevin and doing the same.

"Bye Clyde, Darren, Kevin. It was really fun playing with you!" Kira gave her goodbyes, walking up to John and taking the hand he'd offered her as they walked out of the restaurant, slightly jogging to catch up with Sherlock.

The cab ride to 221b was significantly less awkward then the two they'd experienced earlier that day. The cab was fairly silent, Kira playing on her phone as John watched the streets pass outside his window, only occasionally glancing at Kira to make sure she was alright. Sherlock seemed to be his normal brooding self during the ride. Ignoring the other occupants in the cab in favor of trying to solve his new puzzle.

Normally Sherlock enjoyed a good puzzle. Something that stimulated the brain and got him thinking, but this new puzzle was simply impossible. The girls character and attitude seemed to be constantly changing.

One minute she'd be rushing around, talking faster then one would think possible. Spouting off theories like it was life or death and she had to say absolutely everything that came to mind. The next minute she'd seem to be quite and reserved, keeping to herself and watching everyone from a distance like everything was some intricate play she could observe but not interact with. Then she'd started acting like any normal five year old should, smiling brightly and hugging anyone who'd smile back at her.

It was driving Sherlock mad, trying to fit all the pieces together when so many were missing and he'd been given ones that didn't quite fit the puzzle. He was just about ready to resort to drastic measures and text Mycroft and ask his opinion when soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"You're overthinking it, you know." Kira stated, glancing up at Sherlock from her phone. "I'm not that complicated a puzzle. I've just got a complicated life. At least, now I do. Before everything was fairly simple. I didn't have to deal with TimeLords and Consulting Detectives. The most difficult thing I had to deal with was what college I wanted to go to and what my major would be." Kira rambled a bit, letting out a small yawn at the end of her sentence. "I'm not complicated, my life is." She was starting to get rather tired and her brain to mouth filter seemed to turn off in a effort to store some energy for her to function.

It was because of her exhaustion that she'd failed to realize she'd responded to Sherlock's internal monologue, and not something that he'd said out loud. Causing Sherlock to watch her with wide, surprised eyes as she continued messing around with her phone.

"What?" Sherlock asked, knowing what she said, but trying to see if she'd explain how she knew what he was thinking. She had told him and John that she was an alien. Trying to use the fact that she had two harts and impossible knowledge as proof, but Sherlock had trouble believing her. But if she could read his mind like she'd seemed to have just done, then that meant that she truly had to be something extraterrestrial. That, or some highly evolved human. Something that Sherlock seriously doubted considering the clarity with which she was able to read his mind.

Kira seemed oblivious to the thoughts running through Sherlock's mind now as she put away her phone moved around in her seat so she was leaning against John. She let out another tired yawn as she looked up at Sherlock.

"I said your overthinking it. The puzzle's not as difficult as your making it out to be. I'm a fairly simple person." Kira explained, not realizing that Sherlock was asking a different question. "I'm definitely not someone you'd need to contact Mycroft about." She mumbled, snuggling further into John as she seemed to drift off. Kira had been up and about for almost two days straight, not counting the few minutes she'd spent passed out in 221b after she'd arrived, and she was exhausted. She knew TimeLord's needed less sleep then humans, but considering all she's been through in the past few days, she felt like she deserved a proper nights rest.

Sherlock was about to ask Kira just why she'd said what she had when John shushed him with a pointed glare. He'd grown rather fond of the girl. She'd become something like a daughter too him over the short time he'd known her, and he'd be damned if he'd let Sherlock wake the poor girl up just to quench some curiosity of his.

Sherlock huffed in annoyance and turned to look out the window, deciding he'd ask the girl later. Instead he decided to focus on the case at hand and try and figure out what the message in the graffiti was.


	7. The Blind Banker 6: A Minor Kidnapping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me forever to post. I've had it posted on FF.net for a while, but I keep on forgetting that I also need to post it here... Oops. Oh well, I'm gonna try and get better at that. Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please R&R!

Kira woke up in a rather soft bed in a rather bland looking room with dull green walls and white accents. The room was sparsely decorated, only containing a dresser, a nightstand and bookshelf. There were two doors, one that led out of the room, and one that led to what she assumed, was a closet. Next to the bookshelf was a plush reading chair that had a couple of throw pillows and a blanket draped over it. Her utility belt was set next to the chair along with her sweater and socks.

With a tired yawn Kira crawled out from under the warm sheets and off the bed, shivering a bit as her bare feet landed on the cold, wooden floor. Kira glanced around a bit before walking towards the chair with her belongings on it. With sluggish, tired movements Kira pulled on her sweater and her utility belt before pulling herself onto the chair to put on her socks. Once she was done she pushed out of the chair, stumbling a bit as her socks slid on the hard wood floor. She glanced around the room a bit more, searching for her shoes. Unable to find them she walked to the door she assumed led outside. The door creaked a bit as she opened it, revealing a rather plain looking hallway that led to a flight of stairs.

Kira gave another yawn as she walked down the hallway and down the stairs. The stairs were harder to walk down then she'd care to admit. The steps large to her short legs and the cold hardwood causing her socked feet to slip every so often.

Once at the bottom of the stairs Kira found herself in a short hallway that led to 221b's kitchen. Well, kitchen was a bit of a stretch, it was more like a lab filled with half finished experiments. All around the room were bunsen burners and graduated cylinders filled with mysterious liquids, some bubbling and others making ominous creaking or popping noises.

Kira carefully walked through the kitchen, staying mindful of her surrounding so she wouldn't accidentally knock anything over. Once she'd finally made it through the minefield of a kitchen, Kira found herself in the ever famous 221b sitting room. Sherlock was currently sitting in his chair, his hands steepled under his chin as he studied pictures of the odd symbols found in the investment bank. Kira walked further into the room, glancing around to see if she could find her missing shoes when John walked into the flat. John had a excited smile on his face, and a slight blush on his cheeks.

"I said could you pass me a pen?" Sherlock spoke up from his seat as John walked in. John tossed his jacket onto his chair as he gave Kira a questioning look, wondering if Sherlock might have been talking to her. Kira just shrugged and continued searching for her boots.

"What, when?" John questioned, slightly taken aback by Sherlocks seemingly random question.

"About an hour ago." Sherlock clarified, a bored tone to his voice.

"Didn't notice I'd gone out then?" John asked, slightly insulted as he grabbed a nearby Sharpie and tossed it to Sherlock. Sherlock easily caught the marker without looking as he continued to search his Mind-palace for the odd symbols. John walked up to the mirror, studying the pictures that Sherlock had tapped the the mirror with a curious eye.

"I went to see about a job at that surgery." John stated casually as he studied the pictures, deciding that he wouldn't let Sherlock ruin his good mood.

"How was it?" Sherlock asked. Not really seeming to care but asking for the sake of social convention.

"Great. She's great." John answered, not really paying attention to Sherlock, but instead thinking about the lovely woman who'd interviewed him.

"Who?"

"The job." John answered far to quickly. Licking his lips and looking slightly nervous at his slip up.

"She?" Sherlock asked, obviously not believing John's answer. John paused a moment staring at Sherlock with a look that clearly read 'just drop it already'. Kira couldn't hold back a small giggle at the interaction as she continued to look around the messy flat for her shoes. John glanced passed Sherlock to give Kira a reprimanding look.

"Here. Have a look." Sherlock pulled John's attention back to himself as he gestured for John to read the news article he had opened on his computer with a tilt of his head. John gave a little 'hmmm?' in question as he walked to the computer. Kira watched with interest as John's face went from curious to concerned in a matter of seconds as he read the article.

"The intruder who can walk through walls." John read the first sentence of the article out loud, a slightly disbelieving tone in his voice.

"Happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat. Doors locked windows bolted from the inside. Exactly the same as Van Coon." Sherlock gave the details of the murder in a distracted tone. He was obviously still thinking about the symbols, trying to find out what they ment.

Kira was pulling on her boots (she'd found them hidden underneath a fallen pile of papers on the floor) as she briefly ran through what she remembered of this episode in her head. She could feel in her bones that part of this adventure was a fixed point. That if she messed with it too much she might mess up the whole timeline. But she also knew that part of it was in flux. She just had to figure out what she could mess with, what she could change, and what had to stay the same no matter what.

"Let's go." Sherlock stated, pulling Kira from her thoughts as he rose from his chair and straightened his blazer. Kira quickly finished tying up her boot as stood up from her place on the floor and rushed towards the door as Sherlock and John put on their coats.

"Where are we going then?" John asked as he walked to stand by Kira at the door, watching Sherlock as he grabbed his laptop and ran out of the flat, leaving Kira and John to follow.

The trio soon found themselves in a cab heading towards New Scotland Yard. Kira sitting awkwardly in the middle with her back towards John as the man tried to brush her tangled mess of hair. Something Kira had forgotten to do after she'd woken up, meaning her hair, which now reached down just past her waist, was a birds nest. Kira had always had long, straight, thick hair growing up. Something her mother and older sister always enjoyed playing with. Kira herself hated it. It was annoying and slightly painful to brush, and put her at a disadvantage when she'd fight the kids that bullied her.

"John, you don't have to brush my hair!" Kira insisted as she tried, vainly, to move away from John.

"Well, your hair needs to be brushed by someone. Now sit still or the brush will get tangled." John chided, smiling softly at Kira. Kira gave an annoyed huff, causing John to chuckle a bit as he continued to brush the knots out of her hair.

"Shut up. I'm thinking." Sherlock growled out, annoyed at the noise John and Kira were making. "If you really hate John brushing your hair so much why doing you just cut it off." He reasoned, earning a glare from John as he finished brushing her hair and a small chuckle from Kira as she moved into a more comfortable position.

"I did. At least, I cut it when I entered High School. Scared my mom to death when I walked into her bedroom one day with a pair of scissors telling her to cut my hair or I'll cut it myself. She  _begged_  me to wait until we could make an appointment with a hairdresser, but I refused to wait. Finally, after what felt like hours of arguing I walked into the bathroom and cut most of it off." Kira chuckled at the memory. Her mother loved her long hair, and was convinced that she'd regret cutting it. Her smile soon turned sad when she remembered her predicament. "Hope she's doing okay." Kira mumbled to herself, not realizing that John and Sherlock had overheard.

John opened his mouth, about to say something to try and comfort the girl when the cab came to a stop and Sherlock rushed out the door. With a roll of his eyes John paid the cabby and got out of the cab, holding the door open for Kira and taking her hand once her feet had touched the pavement. Sherlock rushed into New Scotland Yard, leaving Kira and John to jog after him and up to Detective Inspector Dimmock's office. Sherlock quickly set down his laptop and began rapidly typing as he opened up the news article.

"Brian Lukis, freelance journalist, murdered in his flat, doors locked from the inside." Sherlock explained, turning the laptop towards Dimmock once he'd found the right webpage.

"You've got to admit it's similar." John stated. "Both men killed by someone who can walk through solid walls."

"Inspector do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another city suicide?" Sherlock asked, giving a sigh of disappointment when he saw the look on Dimmock's face. "You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?" Dimmock gave a little nod of his head and a hum of confirmation. "And the shot that killed him, was it fired from his own gun?"

"No."

"No." Sherlock answered his own question just as Dimmock did, knowing he was right. "So, this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to take my word as gospel." Sherlock ranted, leaning over Dimmock's desk in a slightly intimidating manner. "I've just handed you a murder inquiry. Five minutes in his flat."

Dimmock glanced from Sherlock to John before his eyes finally landed on Kira. With a deep sigh he straightened up in his chair. "Five minutes. But the kid stays here. That, or you send her home." He replied, earning a glare from Kira. She understood his reasons and didn't really mind staying behind, but she couldn't stand the way he talked about her like she wasn't in the room.

John looked down at Kira and gave her a apologetic smile. "Sorry." Kira just shrugged and gave him an understanding smile, letting go of his hand and moving to the side. She gave a small wave as John and Sherlock walked out with Dimmock, who stopped a moment to talk to nearby officer and order him to watch over Kira while they were gone. The officer gave a small nod in understanding and continued typing at his computer.

With a sigh Kira found a comfortable place to sit on the floor and pulled a notepad and a pen out of her bag and began doodling. Kira was so immersed in her doodle, that she failed to notice the elevator doors open to reavail a beautiful brown haired woman texting someone on her Blackberry. Without glancing up the woman walked towards a nearby officer and cleared her throat, grabbing his attention.

"I'm here to pick up a little girl around five years old. Friend of the family." The woman stated matter-of-factly. The officer, nodded and stood from his desk.

"Wait here and I'll go get her." He stated with a smile. The woman just nodded and returned to her phone, ignoring anything else the man might have said. The officer walked over to Kira, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey honey. Your rides here." He smiled. Kira, slightly confused, nodded and followed the man back to his desk, surprised to find a familiar woman standing there and doing something on her phone. Kira walked up to the woman who looked down at her and gave her a small smile before walking off and leaving Kira to follow. Kira considered her options for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and following the woman out of the building. The woman led Kira to a nondescript black car with tinted windows that was parked infront of the building. A man in a black suit with sunglasses was holding open the back door, waiting patiently for Kira and the woman to enter the car. After a moments pause Kira climbed into the car after the woman, jumping slightly when the door gave a soft thud and click as it closed and locked behind her.


	8. The Blind Banker 7: Meeting Mycroft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still trying to catch up with all the chapters I forgot to post...

The car ride was silent. The brown haired woman, who later introduced herself as Anthea, spent the whole ride on her phone. Kira briefly wondered if she was playing  _'Angry Birds',_  but she quickly dismissed the thought when she remembered just  _who_  Mycroft was.

The car soon stopped at a tall nondescript building that seemed abandoned. Kira quickly opened the door and stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her with a soft thud. Kira walked towards Anthea, who was waiting by the entrance of the building, and looked around in interest. The street seemed devoid of life despite the time of day. She supposed it had something to do with Mycroft.

Anthea led Kira through the building and into a waiting elevator. She pressed a unmarked button with one well manicured finger and sent the elevator car up. Kira passed the time by trying to estimate the number of floors they passed until they came to a stop, but after a while she lost track. Instead she tried to count the number of buttons on the elevator door, and use that to find the floor they were going to stop on. After a minute she came to the conclusion that she didn't care and she'd just wait and see what happened.

The elevator soon came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a long, empty hallway. Anthea led Kira down the hallway, the sound of her heels echoing off the walls. Kira observed her surroundings as she considered why Mycroft would need to talk with her. She had a feeling that it wasn't to bribe her like John. He could be wondering  _why_  she was with John and Sherlock since she had no real connection to either of them. Or he could be wondering where she came from since there should be no report of her ever existing in the first place.

Kira was pulled out of her thoughts when they reached a door at the end of the hallway. Anthea waited a moment, texting someone on her phone, before the door opened up to reveal something that looked like a standard hotel suite.

The room was separated into two different sections. One that was situated like a sitting room with two plush chairs and a dark wood table set between them. There were two people in the room. Mycroft, who was sitting in one of the plush chairs with his ever present umbrella hooked onto the arm of the chair, and a Security guard who had opened the door for Kira and Anthea.

The second section was a kitchenette with a sleek counter, a small microwave, and silver mini-fridge in the corner. There were three doors in the room. One that looked like a coat closet. Another that Kira assumed led to the restroom. And the last one probably led to a bedroom.

Kira finished examining the room and let her eyes drift back to Mycroft, examining him with clear curiosity. Mycroft smiled at the small girl standing in the doorway and motioned for her to sit in the seat across from him. Kira paused for only a moment before taking the seat. Watching in interest as Anthea walked into the room and leaned against the wall behind Mycroft and just a bit to his left. The security guard that let Kira into the room simply glanced back at Mycroft, waiting for some sort of signal for a short moment before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

"Hello, little girl." Mycroft smiled down at Kira. His tone was kind and inviting but Kira could tell that his smile was fake. The 'professional smile' that she'd seen far too often from teachers and classmates.

"Hello Mycroft." Kira smiled back with her own, real smile. Slightly surprising Mycroft, not that he'd show it, with the fact that she knew who he was and seemed at ease in his presence.

"Yes, well, I've been told that you're living with Sherlock now. In fact, I was informed that you're his cousin from America. I wonder how that could have happened?" Mycroft asked, the fake smile still on his face, though it was slightly more forced now then it was before. It was obvious that he wanted answers. Now Kira just had to figure out how much information she was willing to give him, and how much he might already know.

"Well. I am living with Sherlock, temporary as it may be, and I guess I should tell you that I'm not his cousin. Though I'm sure you knew that since you're his brother." Kira stated, watching as his eyebrow twitched when she called him Sherlock's brother.

"Hmm, quite. Now I'm sure you're curious as to  _why_  I brought you here."

"Not really." Kira interjected. It was a lie. She really was curious, but she kinda enjoyed annoying Mycroft. She knew it was stupid and dangerous to annoy such a influential man. But even so she could help but enjoy the rare chance to push his buttons.

"You see, you don't exist." Mycroft finished, his strained smile dropping as he glared at Kira, effectively shutting her up. She understood now why Moriarty called him the 'Ice Man'. His glare was cold enough to freeze a dessert. "We've ran your prints. Taken DNA samples. Searched every database available and we've come up with nothing. You simply do. Not. Exist." Mycroft explained, waiting to see how Kira would react to this information. Kira paused a moment. All playfulness gone from her eyes as she carefully considered what to say next.

"Well that's to be expected. I mean, I am from a different universe." She admitted, waiting to see how Mycroft would take that bit of information. She was slightly satisfied to see Anthea stop texting on her phone and glance at her, examining her as if she was some odd alien or an escaped mental patient. Mycroft just seemed to freeze. His face blank as he processed the new information.

"Come again?"

"I'm from a different universe. This is the third universe I've been in to be exact. It's all kind of complicated." She restated. Watching as Mycroft sighed and leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger.

"This is more complicated then I thought it would be. Anthea, leave us be for a moment." Mycroft ordered. Waiting a few seconds after his assistant left the room before continuing. "So you're from a different universe are you? You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the Doctor would you?" Mycroft asked.

Kira was stunned silent. She knew the Doctor saved more then one universe on more then one occasion, but she never expected the other universes to be aware of him. Then she suddenly remembered something he'd said in an episode once. ' _When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, and took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind.'_ It was something the 10th Doctor had said in 'Age of Steel'. She supposed then, that he might have traveled here once upon a time, or will travel here before the war.

"So you do know him. Tell me what purpose you and the Doctor have with Sherlock." Mycroft demanded answers. He could tell from her reaction that she knew the Doctor personally. He also knew from reports classified beyond top secret, reports that not even the Prime Minister had access to, that the Doctor was dangerous. Oh yes, he's saved their world and universe more times then he could count. But wherever the Doctor turned up, trouble was guaranteed to follow.

Kira shook herself from her shock and regarded Mycroft with a sad smile. "Nothing. I'm simply staying with him and John until I find a way back home. Like I said, I'm from a different universe. As fun as it is here, I desperately need to find a way back. And I think Sherlock's my best chance at that." She paused and took a deep breath. Deciding that it was in her best interest to tell Mycroft the whole story.

"It's like I said. I'm from a different universe. I was plucked from that universe and thrown into the Doctor's without explanation or reason, and once I'd finally started to feel at home there, I was stolen away and brought here." Kira took another deep breath and Mycroft couldn't help but notice just how small and vulnerable she looked now. When she first entered the room she seemed confident and at ease despite her small stature, but now she just looked so weak and, for lack of a better term, breakable.

"I'm not anything special. I've never done anything really amazing with my life. In fact, it all seemed kinda pointless for the longest time. And then I met the Doctor. I mean I really  _met_  him. I got to know him and next thing I know I'm traveling along side him, saving lives and changing history. It was dangerous. Still is. I know that, but I can't just leave him. Not now. He needs someone more then ever and I  _know_  Rose is gonna be forced to leave him and I just  _need_  to be there for him. I can't stand to watch him break" Kira explained. Her eyes pleading for Mycroft to understand. She knew it was dangerous. Knew she'd interfered far to much and changed things more then she should have, but the Doctor was  _real._ He was no longer a story. Something made up for peoples entertainment. He was a  _real_  person with  _real_  feelings now, and she couldn't ignore that. No matter what logic told her.

Mycroft sat silently as he considered all that Kira had said, his face betraying nothing as he carefully thought over everything he knew. He felt the urge to help her. Partially because some small part of her reminded him of Sherlock when he was younger. Always thinking less of himself and always trying to impress others. He also wanted to  _protect_  Sherlock. Meaning he wanted to keep Sherlock  _far_  away from  _anything_  that had to do with the Doctor. With a resigned sigh Mycroft leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers in front of his face as he inspected the girl in front of him.

"I'll help you. But you must promise me one thing. Keep Sherlock out of this. I don't want him getting mixed up with the Doctor. He's far too dangerous." Mycroft demanded more then propositioned, leaving Kira no choice but to accept his offer. After a moment of thought she considered it the best option in the end due to the untold amount of resources at Mycroft's disposal.

"Okay. As long as you let me spend time with Sherlock and John. I'll keep them out of this, but I'm not going to abandon them." Kira stated, a strong determination in her eyes. All hints of the frail girl from before gone. No matter what she'd never leave her friends behind, and in the short time she's known them, Kira has come to consider both Sherlock and John as dear friends.

Mycroft was slightly surprised by her statement. People rarely  _enjoyed_  spending time with his younger brother. And never has he seen someone fight so vehemently for the right to spend time with him. He considered her words for a brief moment before her regarded her with a steely cold look, deciding to test just how far her resolve would last.

"He dosen't care for you. Not like you do him. You must know by now that you are nothing more then a puzzle to him and once that puzzle is solved, he will lose interest in you." Mycroft half expected Kira to breakdown and cry or yell at him, denying everything he's said as fiction ment to keep her away from his brother. He was pleasantly surprised when, instead, Kira gave him a small smile.

"I know. But even when that time comes, I'll still consider him an important friend." Kira replied. She never had many friends growing up. And she'd experienced first hand just how heartbreaking it is to lose a friend. Because of that Kira has always been determined to protect the few friends she did have. Even if they didin't consider  _her_  a friend, she'd always consider them one.

"I see. Well, if I'm going to help you then I'm gonna need to know how you got here." Mycroft said, his lips twitching up at the end of his sentence in a hint of a smile. Kira gave him her own excited smile in return. Excited because she was finally working towards getting back to the Doctor.


	9. The Blind Banker 8: New Self Discoveries

Kira had gotten comfortable in her seat and began to tell Mycroft her story. "It all started at a comic convention. There was a odd storm that somehow brought me to the Doctor's universe. I was there for a couple days before  _something_  happened, pulling me from his universe to yours as a five year old version of myself. I'm not positive on what happened, but I do remember traveling through the Time Vortex, something which should have killed me. I can only assume that their was a rip in the Time Vortex that brought me here. That, or the time lines crossed some how." Kira was slightly surprised by just how little he reacted to her words, though she supposed that it was something she should have expected. "Oh, I forgot to mention that I turned into a Time Lord at some point. I'm not really sure  _when_  but I think it started some point after traveling to the Doctor's Universe."

Once Kira was done Mycroft leaned back in his seat and pulled his umbrella off the side of the chair and across his lap, fiddling with it as he thought about everything the girl had said. "Based on what you described it seems that the most probable cause for you being here is that  _you_  brought yourself here from the Doctor's universe. If that's true, then reason dictates that you should be able to recreate the instance and transport yourself back to the Doctor. The only issue I see with this is control. You need to be able to not only transport yourself, but make sure your destination is correct." Mycroft's words were quick but concise. Making sure that Kira understood what he was trying to say.

Kira had been stunned silent for a moment. She didn't want to believe what Mycroft had said. That she somehow brought herself here, into his universe, but some small part of her knew that he was right. With a deep breath Kira leaned forward in her seat and regarded Mycroft with an expression far to serious for a 5 year old. "How do I control it then? I mean. Practice makes perfect right? But how do I practice without going somewhere else?" She asked, slightly dreading the answer. She was fairly certain she knew what Mycroft would say, she just wanted to believe she was wrong.

"You don't. I'm sorry to say that your going to just have to practice and hope you figure out how to control it before you go somewhere dangerous." Mycroft seemed slightly sympathetic as he continued to fiddle with his umbrella. Kira let out a distressed sigh as considered what this might mean for her future. Things were definitely going to become more interesting.

"Okay well. Do you have any suggestions on how I figure out just  _how_  I traveled through the time vortex?" She asked the older Holmes. She knew she was expecting too much of him. Thinking that he'd have the answers too all her problems but she had no where else to turn.

"I'm afraid that that's outside my realm of expertise." Mycroft replied, seeming truly apologetic that he couldn't help Kira out. That was when Kira remembered her phone. She wanted to hit herself for forgetting it for a second time. She went to reach for her phone, but stopped when she remembered Mycroft. She briefly wondered if it was something she should show Mycroft. Mycroft watched Kira's internal battle with clear amusement written across his face.

With a sigh Kira gave Mycroft a look that clearly read  _'Don't bother'_  and pulled her phone out of it's pocket on her belt. Mycroft seemed slightly interested in the strange device, but seemed to have understood Kira's look because he didn't ask her about it. With slightly fumbling fingers Kira quickly searched through the contact list for the Doctor's number. Before long she was holding the phone to her ear and listening to it ring. Waiting impatiently for the Doctor to pick up.

She was slightly anxious about  _which_  Doctor would pick up. She'd only met the ninth, and she wasn't sure how any other Doctor would react to her calling them. She was even less sure on how they'd react to her question. The phone was picked up before the third ring. Kira held her breath in anticipation as she waited to see which Doctor answered the phone.

"Hello? This is the Doctor" Came the familiar voice of the 11th Doctor. Kira let out the breath she was holding and smiled. The 11th Doctor was a bit more understanding the some of his other regenerations.

"Hello Doctor. It's me." Kira greeted. Letting the Doctor fill in the blank of who she was to him. She was slightly curious to hear who he thought she was.

"Keeper? How old are you this time? Better question, where are you this time?" The Doctor asked, his tone instantly becoming chipper. Kira smiled at the normality of it all and had to hold back a chuckle at how ridiculous it all seemed.

"I'm about 5 years old physically, and I'm currently sitting across from Mycroft Holms." She informed the man. Her smile softening at the small  _'ohhh_ ' of understanding the Doctor gave at her words.

"You told me about this! Oh you're still young. I mean, of course you're young physically. But you're so young in relation to how long you've known me. If I remember right this was... Oh hold on." There was a small amount of rustling and muffled words that Kira couldn't quite make out.

" _Yes Amy I'm talking to the Keeper... Yes, I know she's in the Kitchen, it's a different Keeper. No, I mean, it's the same Keeper at a different point in her time line... No you can't talk to her she called_ me _... Listen, this is a very important call and you're taking up precious time... Fine... Yes, I promise..."_ more rustling was heard over the phone.

"Okay I'm back. Sorry about that. Now then, if I remember right this is just after you...  _changed_... and you're just discovering your powers right?" The Doctor whispered the question into the phone. Kira nodded, before remembering that the Doctor couldn't see her nod.

"Yup. I need to figure out how to... Uh... Travel between universes..." She muttered the last part. Slightly scared by how the Doctor would react. Apparently she had nothing to fear.

"Yes right! Well, you tried to explain it to me once. Still don't quite understand it, but you said you would. I was, admittedly confused at first, but I think I understand what you ment now." The Doctor rambled. Kira's smile turned fond as she listened.

"Doctor, how do I do it?" She asked, trying to bring the Doctor back on topic. As much as she enjoyed his rambling, she'd much rather experience it up close in person. Her question seemed to snap the Doctor out of his rambling, and he gave a little embarrassed cough.

"Yes, right. You told me, that you imagine the vortex. That you imagine the feel of it pulling you up and taking you through time and space. Then you imagine a turn off that leads to the new universe you want to go to." The Doctor explained. His voice projecting just how awed he was by her apparent power to travel between dimensions. Kira listened to him carefully, committing what he said to memory.

"Okay Doctor. Thank you..." She trailed off. She didn't want to hang up yet. But she needed to go, to tell Mycroft what she'd learned and attempt to make it back to him.

"See you soon." The Doctor's tone was kind. Like he knew exactly why Kira was hesitating.

"See you soon." Kira replied before pressing the end call button. She sat there, staring at her phone for a while before she heard someone clearing their throat. She looked up to see Mycroft sitting there, staring at her with expectant eyes. Kira blushed slightly and gave Mycroft a slightly sheepish smile in reply.

"I take it you got the answer you need?" He asked, his tone amused. Kira nodded as put her phone away. Her blush subsiding and her smile turning genuine.

"Yeah. I think I can travel back now." Kira had decided to keep what the Doctor told her a secret for the moment. "I think, I'll try and go back soon."

"How soon?"

"Possibly now."

Mycroft didn't seem surprised by her answer. "Understood. Though, it might be best if you talk to Sherlock and John before you leave." He told her, his tone strangely neutral. Kira frowned slightly at the thought of leaving her new friends. She really did not want to say goodbye. That's one thing the Doctor and her shared, a hatred for goodbyes. Kira thought for a moment, her mind going through all the different ways she could say goodbye without actually saying  _goodbye._  Before long she let out a defeated sigh and decided to take a page out of the Doctor's book, and run away.

"Can you tell them for me?" Kira asked, her eyes pleading for the man to understand  _why_  she needed to leave without telling them. She knew it was rude, irresponsible, and that she shouldn't run away from her issues. But she couldn't quite help it. Mycroft gave Kira an understanding, if slightly disappointed look before nodding his head in agreement.

"I'll relay your message." He replied, though his eyes clearly said  _'Only this once. Next time you're going to have to suck it up and do it yourself.'_  Kira gave a nod of thanks and understanding and was about ready to try what the Doctor recommended before a thought came to her mind. Quickly she fished around in her little side bag, pulling out a pen and a post-it note pad. She quickly pulled out her phone again and began searching it. Before long she'd found what she was looking for and quickly copying the information down on a post-it note. Once she was done Kira pulled the note off the pad and handed it to Mycroft.

"Can you give this to Sherlock and John?" She asked. Mycroft took the offered note and gave Kira a look of understanding.

"Of course. Is that all?" Mycroft asked, seeming slightly more comfortable with Kira's decession to leave without saying goodbye now that he, and his brother and his brothers colleague, had a way to contact the young girl.

"Yeah, that should be all." Kira paused a moment. "Thank you Mycroft."

Mycroft smiled. A real, genuine, smile. "You're welcome Kira." Kira returned the smile before closing her eyes and doing as the Doctor instructed. Picturing the Vortex in her mind. The swirling clouds and colors that made up the passage through Time and Space.

After what felt like hours, but in reality was only seconds, the image in her mind became clearer and clearer. Formless masses of gray changing into defined clouds. Colors taking exploding across her eyelids as lightening branched across the vortex. Soon Kira began to hear a roaring wind and she felt her hair move about her as if she was caught in a hurricane. Her head began to ache from the strain, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind and ignored it. Instead focusing on the image of the vortex that'd taken root in her mind. Soon the wind picked up and a particularly bright flash of lightening caused Kira to open her eyes.

She gasped in surprise when she noticed that she was no longer in the hotel suite with Mycroft, instead she was hurtling through the Vortex. She thought about the Doctor, tried to focus on him. But she she saw a flash of lightening and heard the boom of thunder and her mind wondered. Soon she came upon a turn off and she saw a bright light, the pain in her head becoming unbearable. The pain began to spread from the base of her skull throughout her body slowly, until her hole body felt like it was on fire. With a pained moan Kira curled in on herself. She didn't notice the light fading, revealing that she was no longer in the vortex.

"Who the hell are you?"


	10. Avengers 1: A Wrong Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaannnddd.... I'm all caught up. Sorry it took me so long to get you guys these chapters. I'll try and get better at updating AO3 when I update FF.net.

Kira took a moment to unfold herself from the little ball she's made and slowly stood up once the pain that overtook her body subsided. She looked around the room and the first thing she noticed was she was taller. She looked around the room in interest, taking in the heigh-tech displays. It wasn't until she saw the long spear with a glowing ball of energy embedded in the bladed tip that she realized why the room looked so familiar.

"I repeat, Who the hell are you?" A clearly male voice asked. Kira turned and froze when she saw non-other then Tony Stark standing across from her, arch reactor and all.

"Uhh. Hi. I'm-" She paused when a idea weaseled it's way into her mind. She was in the, from the looks of it, Avengers universe. The Universe where everyone had a cool superhero name. Why couldn't she? Besides, she was a Time Lord now, she needed a Time Lord name. "I'm the Keeper." She smiled, happy at the thought of finally adapting the name that the Doctor called her.

She was slightly surprised to hear her voice, she'd gotten used to the childish voice before, now it sounded more developed. She glanced down at her hand and gave a small sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't wrinkled. It would be just her luck to meet the Avengers as an old lady. She paused a moment, considering the question she wanted to ask before throwing caution into the wind and deciding that she really didn't care about how odd it might sound.

"How old am I? I mean, how old do I look?" Kira, now the Keeper asked, bringing her hands up and running them through her hair. She was satisfied to learn that it was short again, but cut differently than she'd expected. Leaving her to believe she was slightly older than she should be.

"Well, you look like you're in your twenties and why am I answering your questions? You should be answering  _my_  questions right now." Stark told her, walking around the room and bringing her attention to the fact that they were the only two in it. The Keeper briefly wondered where Banner might've gone to, but her mind was mainly focused on how old she might, physically be. She always looked a few years younger then she really was, so if she looked like she was in her twenties, she might be in her thirties. She quickly decided that she didn't have time to think about that, and that she needed to get back on track.

The Keeper hesitated a moment longer before responding, trying to think of the best way to keep Tony from thinking she's one of Loki's minions. Her now advanced Time Lord mind came up with the truly elegant reply of, "Uh, okay."

"Okay what?" Tony asked, seeming really confused. He'd been watching the girl in front of him with open curiosity and amusement. All her thoughts displayed clear as day across her face. He'd ended up forgetting his question.

"Okay, I'll answer you're questions." She clarified.

"Oh. Okay then. How'd you get here? What was that, big flash of light?" Tony asked, using his hands to make wild gestures in an attempt to get his thoughts across. He didn't really think of the girl as a threat anymore, but his scientific mind was overflowing with questions.

The Keeper considered telling him a lie, but decided that the truth was probably the best option. "Well, I came here through the Time Vortex. And that 'big flash of light' was probably the vortex depositing me here." She paused a moment in thought. "Though, I have no idea why it was a flash of light. When the TARDIS does it it's more of a slowly appear/disappear thing. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong..." The last part was muttered to herself, though Tony heard it anyway.

"The Time Vortex. You're kidding right. That's, that's theoretical nonsense." Stark yelled out, completely surprising the Keeper. It was at that point that Bruce Banner walked in, a cup of coffee in each hand. He stood at the door and glanced between the Keeper and Stark before sighing and walking over to Tony and handing him one of the coffee's and taking a drink of his own.

"What did I miss?" He asked, glancing between Tony and the Keeper once more while waiting for an explanation.

"This crazy chick just appeared out of absolutely  _nowhere_  in a bright flash of light. Call's herself 'The Keeper'" Tony provided, using one hand to gesture wildly this time since his other had was occupied with a hot drink. The Keeper gave an annoyed huff and crossed her arms over her chest in mock offense.

"I'm not crazy." She defended. Though she knew it could be a lie. For all she knew this was all in her head and she was really hugging her shoulders in a psych ward right now. Though she highly doubted it. Everything just seemed to  _real_  here. Tony, seemed to disagree.

"She's lying. She is crazy. She said she came from the  _'Time Vortex'._ " He glared at the Keeper like she stole his last cookie or something and took a long drink of his coffee. The Keeper rolled her eyes at his attitude but kept quite. Bruce just glanced between the pair as he drank his own coffee, seemingly amused at their interactions.

"The Time Vortex is theoretical Tony, for all we know she could be telling the truth. Just because it's not proven, doesn't mean it's not real." Bruce countered, giving the Keeper a sympathetic smile. The Keeper gave Banner a thankful look, and was about to voice her thanks when Tony cut her off.

"No, it doesn't exist. Because if the 'Time Vortex' existed then that'd mean Time Travel was possible. And we all know that Time Travel's not possible because if it was, the world, no, the  _universe_  woudln't be as messed up as it is." Tony argued, his expression dark. The Keeper suddenly understood why Tony was so insistent that the Time Vortex didn't exist. Her expression became sad as she thought about everything Tony, and the rest of the Avenger's have gone through up to this point. It was like someone poured a cold bucket of water over her. She realized that, this was real. People had died, real people were hurt. She had too keep reminding herself that. It seemed, no matter how many universes she travels through, it still surprised her to find out that things were no longer fiction.

"I'm sorry." The Keeper muttered, her tone relaying just how much his statement effected her. She wanted to tell him that Time Travel was real. That it was complicated and that somethings were unavoidable. But she couldn't quite bring herself to say it. Luckily, she didn't have to.

"Tony, you know as well as I do that things could be  _much_  worse. For all we know, Time Travel could be possible, just, complicated." Bruce stated, patting Tony on the back slightly in an attempt to calm the man down. Tony took a deep calming breath and nodded his head.

"Yeah, okay, whatever." Tony mumbled, running his hands through his hair and walking back to the screen he was looking at before the Keeper appeared. He examined the screen a moment, looking over something and tapping the screen like he was changing the levels on something. The Keeper locked eyes with Bruce for a moment and some level of understanding passed between them. He knew she was keeping secrets, and she knew he wouldn't push for answers.

"So, you're a 'Time Traveler' then?" Bruce asked, a kind smile on his face.

"Yeah, kinda new to it." The Keeper answered with a smile of her own.

"What brings you here then? All of Time at your fingertips and you choose now?" He asked. His tone was nothing but curious, something the Keeper appreciated. She worried that people might assume the worst of her.

"Bit of an accident. I was trying to go see a friend of mine, ended up taking a wrong turn." She explained. Tony snorted at her answer and gave her a disproving stare. The Keeper sighed and rolled her eyes. She understood why Tony didn't trust her. But that didn't mean she had to put up with his attitude. "Look, I don't want to cause any problems. I'll just pop back into the Time Vortex and go home." The Keeper slightly shocked herself with that statement. She wasn't quite sure when she started referring to the Doctor's universe as home, but that's what it felt like now. She was barely there a few days and she already felt like it was home.

"You can do that? Just, 'pop back into the Time Vortex'?" Bruce asked, seeming excited by the prospect. The Keeper smiled and nodded before closing her eyes, deciding that a demonstration was in order.

The Keeper closed her eyes and concentrated, imaging the Vortex as she did just moments before. She could see the image becoming clearer in her minds eye before her vision went white and a sudden and excruciating pain blossomed in her head. The world seemed to become weightless with no proper up or down. She heard a tumble and felt like something was falling on top of her, though it seemed distant, like it was all muffled.

The Keeper opened her eyes to find herself laying on a table with a thin woolen blanket set on top of her. Her head ached, a constant pain that throbbed at the back of her eyes. The Keeper groaned and sat up, rubbing her hand over her eyes in an attempt to ward off the pain.

"You passed out, ended up pulling a chair down with you when you fell." A familiar male voice, Tony, announced. The Keeper rolled her neck, working the kinks out of it before turning to look at Tony. He was working at the same computer as before, glancing briefly at the Keeper before returning to his work. Bruce was gone again, making the Keeper wonder just how long she'd been out. "You know, it was pretty epic, there was this odd light forming and a wind picked up out of nowhere. I thought maybe, just maybe you might be telling the truth about the whole 'Time Vortex' thing. Then you opened your eyes, and they were glowing purple and blue and gold before they rolled into the back of your head and you passed out. Bruce nearly had a heart attack." Tony explained.

"Is he okay?" The Keeper asked. She knew 'The Hulk' tended to come out when his heart rate increased. Tony gave her an evaluating look before closing out of whatever program he was working in and walking towards The Keeper.

"Listen. I'm not sure who you are or what you're doing here. I'm not sure if you're telling the truth, or if you're lying and you're working for Loki. But Bruce seems to trust you, so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Don't make me regret it." Tony's voice was hard as he spoke. The Keeper pushed the pain in her head aside for a moment and focused on Tony.

"I'm not working for Loki, and I'm not planning anything. I understand why you're a bit hesitant to trust me, and I know I've got to earn your trust. But thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt." The Keeper stared into Tony's eyes as she spoke, hoping he could see the truth of her own. She wanted Tony to trust her. She wanted all of the Avengers to trust her, but she knew that it was something she had to earn. She was lucky that Bruce trusted her as quickly as he did. Tony looked at her critically for a moment longer before a smile stretched across his face.

"I like you're attitude. Soooo Miss Keeper. Why'd you pass out?" Tony asked, walking around the table Kira was set on and pulling a chair out. Tony turned the chair so the back was facing the Keeper before sitting in it and leaning forward, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and settling his chin on his crossed arms. Giving the Keeper his full attention.


	11. Avengers 2: Plausible Explanations

_…_   
_"I like you're attitude. Soooo Miss Keeper. Why'd you pass out?" Tony asked, walking around the table the Keeper was set on and pulling a chair out. Tony turned the chair so the back was facing the Keeper before sitting in it and leaning forward, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and settling his chin on his crossed arms. Giving the Keeper his full attention._   
_…_

"I think I passed out because I overexerted myself." The Keeper hesitantly answered Tony's question. Taking a long moment to carefully think over the best explanation. The truth was she had no idea  _why_  she passed out. She had plenty of theories she could work off of, but at this point she had no real understanding of how she traveled through the Vortex in the first place let alone why it wouldn't work when she tried it again.

"I've only traveled through the Vortex twice now. Three times tops if you count the first time I traveled through dimensions. Add on the fact that I've only consciously chosen to travel once and it makes perfect sense that I'd be to, uh,  _worn out_  to properly travel anywhere else for a while. I mean, this is a new… ' _power'_  to me and I guess I just need to develop it a bit." The Keeper knew she was rambling, but she couldn't help but try and come up with a proper understanding of her new found  _'powers'_  as she tried to explain things to Tony. Tony seemed to understand the Keepers need to ramble and sat and listened to her attempted explanation quietly. Well, quite for Tony at least.

"Wait." Tony interjected, making the Keeper pause as she gave the scientist her full attention. "You're telling me that you've only traveled through the… whatever it is you travel through three times now? Just how  _new_  are you to this power?" Tony asked rather sternly. He had  _assumed_  with how composed the girl seemed to be that she'd been popping from one world to the next for a long time now.

Tony had figured that anyone as nonplused about their situation as the girl seemed to be was well seasoned in using their powers. To find out that this rather young woman in front of him had only recently come to develop her abilities was more than a bit surprising. It didn't help that the girl was probably half his age. It'd taken him  _years_  to come to terms with his new life. The thought that this young woman was so easily adjusting to something that was almost impossible for most to comprehend was hard to believe. He knew she said she was new to time travel. He just never really realized  _how_  new.

The Keeper was oblivious to Stark's inner turmoil, though she could tell  _something_  was up with the way he was intently evaluating her like some kind of alien specimen. Though she was technically an alien now,  _he_  didn't know that. At least, not yet. She doubted Tony even knew he was staring at her so intently, he seemed far to lost in his own musings to be aware of how he was inspecting her. It still freaked the Keeper out though, so she cleared her throat, drawing Tony from his thoughts as she carefully answered his question. Sensing that it was something important, though she had no idea just  _how_  important it really was to Tony.

"Um, if I'm right the first time I traveled through the Vortex was around… a week to a week and a half ago. Give or take a day or two. Things get a bit confusing with Time Travel." It was odd for the Keeper to think back on her first real experience with time travel. It felt like a life time ago, and in a way it was. She couldn't imagine going back to her old life now. The Keeper was pulled from her thoughts when the door to the lab swished open. Bruce Banner rushing in with none other than Nick Fury following closely behind him. Bruce glanced from the now conscious Keeper to the stunned Tony before glancing nervously at the eye patched man behind him. The Director glanced briefly at the still stunned Tony before settling his intimidating gaze on the Keeper.

"Who the  _hell_  are you and what are you doing on  _my_  Helicarrier?" Director Fury demanded. Drawing Tony from his shock and making the Keeper flinch slightly. She cleared her throat and wrung her hands nervously in her lap. She took a deep breath, composing herself before meeting Fury's gaze. Something that seemed to slightly please the man. Not many had the guts to meet his gaze. Even less could do so while he was actively glaring at them.

"I'm the Keeper, and, as I've told Tony and Bruce, I came here by accident." The Keeper stated. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from rambling off some senseless explanation. From what she remembered of the movies, Fury wasn't one to wait through such senseless babbling. Fury cocked an eyebrow as he stared steadily at the Keeper. Obviously waiting for her to expand on her answer. Something the Keeper wasn't quite ready to do yet considering how little she really  _knew_. Sure, she had plenty of theories explaining what had happened to her, but no proper explanation. Fury seemed to sense that he was going to get nothing more out of the girl and turned to Tony. His gaze clearly saying that he expected Tony to tell him what had happened. Tony just shrugged, a passive look on his face. The Keeper couldn't help but marvel at the fact that Tony was so calm under Fury's intense gaze.

"She's telling the truth. Bruce here left to go get some Coffee for us and I was alone working when she just kind of… appeared. She was obviously confused, and she later explained that she'd taken 'a wrong turn'." Tony smirked slightly as he watched Fury roll his eyes at the lacking explanation. It was clear to Fury that he wouldn't find out how the girl had appeared on his Helicarrier anytime soon and honestly he didn't have the time to waste. Besides, it seemed that Tony and Bruce trusted the girl enough. He'd have to have Colson or Natasha keep an eye on the girl but at this point she wasn't worth his time. Heck, he might even send the Captain over to keep an eye on the girl.

"Fine. Don't tell me. I'll find out sooner or later. Until then I'm keeping you under careful surveillance. You're not to go anywhere on the Helicarrier without supervision. Got that?" Fury spoke sternly as he stared down the Keeper.  _Daring_  her to try and challenge him. The Keeper just nodded in acceptance of Fury's terms. She honestly didn't mind the thought of being under surveillance and she could understand why Fury was hesitant to trust her. In all honesty she'd never expected him to let her  _stay_  on the aircraft. Fury seemed satisfied that the girl wouldn't challenge him as he gave a small nod to the people in the room before turning and walking out of the lab. His coat fanning around him and dramatically flowing behind him.

"So… that went well." Bruce stated with a small hint of amusement in his voice. Stark and the Keeper glanced at each other before settling their gazes on Banner. They sat in silence for a moment longer before bursting out in laughter. It wasn't that the situation was particularly funny. Rather, the trio simply needed a way to comfortably brake the tension. So they took a moment to laugh their nerves away.

…

Not even thirty minutes later Tony and Bruce were back to work. Bruce bent over the scepter as he scanned with a little hand-held scanner while Tony worked on adjusting a number of settings as he read the results off the screen to Banner. The Keeper was still sitting on the table the pair had set her on when she'd passed out as she listened to them talk science with a small smile on her face. She was currently munching on a bag of Blueberries Tony had offered her after her stomach gave a particularly loud and embarrassing growl. "Sorry to have shocked you Dr. Banner." The Keeper apologized with a slightly sheepish smile as she popped a blueberry into her mouth. Bruce just waved off her apology with a smile. She honestly was sorry she'd worried the man so much.

"Don't worry about it Keeper. I'm just happy you're okay. Also, call me Bruce. Dr. Banner makes me sound old." Bruce joked, bringing a smile to the keepers face. In all honesty Banner was far more social then the movie made him seem. The Keeper had been surprised with just how easy it was to talk and joke with the man the movie presented as a recluse. She supposed it had a lot to do with the fact that it  _was_  a movie. Despite how good it was, a movie was only ever going to be a movie. There might be a universe that followed the same basic storyline. But the people were real. They had time to develop and when they spoke it wasn't reading words from a script. It was actual people voicing their opinions. There was so much more to a person then what was presented on the silver screen. The Keeper, for all her initial trouble in remembering that this was real, was beginning to gain a better understanding of that.

"We are old  _Bruce_. At least, compared to the 'Time Traveler' we are. You can't be older then what? Twenty?" Tony's tone was passive as he tried to make the question seem random, but the curious gleam in his eye betrayed his true interest in the question. The truth was, Tony still couldn't get over the fact that someone who appeared to be half his age had only been traveling between worlds for a week and seemed to be fine with it. Tony knew that, in her situation he'd be having a mental breakdown. He just couldn't understand how the girl was so calm about all this. He remembered that, when she first appeared, she'd asked how old she  _appeared_. Meaning for all he knew the girl could be decades older then him. It would certainly ease his worries to know that the girl might have more life experience, making it easier for her to accept her situation.

"Actually, I'm not sure how old I am. I mean, I was 17 and only a few days away from my birthday when I got pulled into the Doctor's universe. I kind of lost track of time. So I'd assume I'm 18 now. Though, I've come to discover that my physical appearance does slightly affect my personality and mannerisms." The Keeper explained. Both Bruce and Tony stopped in their work and stared at her in shock. They had honestly not expected the odd girl to be so young.

"I mean. I could be older than that for all I know. The only living thing meant to travel through the Vortex is a TARDIS and I've got  _no_  idea what traveling through it might've done to me. I mean, I know one of the consequences is my physical age changes randomly. Before I came here I had the appearance of a five year old little girl. I acted a lot like one too. Mind you, I was still much more mature and knowledgeable then when I was  _really_  five but that doesn't change the fact that I was still acting a  _lot_  more like a kid then I normally would have." The Keeper began to ramble. Trying to ease the looks of shock off of her new found friend's faces. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't like the look they were giving her. It might have been because their look seemed to be a mix of disbelief and something akin to pity, but she just didn't like it.

Tony glanced from the Keeper to Bruce and back again. He had hundreds, no,  _thousands_  of questions he wanted to ask the girl, but as he listened to her ramble and saw the look of distress on her face, he knew now was not the time to ask them. So, doing what he did best, he improvised. Using the screwdriver in his hands he quickly jabbed Bruce in the side, causing the man to jump in surprise and let out a sudden cry of "Owe!" That just so happened to be the exact moment that Captain Rogers walked in.

"Hey!" Captain Rogers had, upon instruction from Fury, gone to watch over the work of the scientist and keep an eye on the 'odd girl' that had apparently appeared out of thin air. The Captain was, understandably, pissed that Stark had essentially provoked the man with rather famous anger management issues. It didn't help that he already held a rather bad opinion of Stark considering all the rumors he's heard about the man. So it was with that already building anger that he stormed into the room and demanded answers.

"Nothing?" Stark asked, ignoring the Captain, and honestly shocked that Banner wasn't even slightly annoyed at the surprise jab. Banner just smiled and shook his head negative before returning his attention to the scepter he was currently scanning the Gamma rays from.

"Are you nuts?" The Captain asked. Walking swiftly passed the Keeper without so much as a glance in her direction as he concentrated his rather heated glare at the famed Tony Stark. Stark finally acknowledged the Captain with a quick glance in his direction.

"Jury's out." Stark quipped. Dismissing the Captain's worry easily as he turned his attention back to Banner. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Tony asked Banner with a small wink, making the Keeper bite her lip in a sorry attempt at holding in her giggles. Banner seemed to catch on to Tony's attempt at a topic change as a small smirk settled on his face. He opened his mouth, ready to answer when the Captain cut him off.

"Is everything a joke to you?" He demanded. The Captain was enraged that Tony was treating something as serious as Banner's… condition as carelessly as he was.

"Funny things are." Tony dismissed the question with a shrug. Finally giving the raging Captain his attention. The Keeper watched as the Captain fumed.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Captain Rogers countered. As if realizing what his words implied, the Captain quickly turned to Bruce. "No offence, Doctor." Bruce just waved off the Captains apology in much the same way that he had waved of the Keepers apology only moments earlier.

"No it- it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Banner joked, trying to ease the growing tension. One of the big reasons he avoided people was not because he feared turning into the Hulk. No, he could control himself far better than that. Sure, it did help to stay away from people, but it wasn't necessary. He stayed away from people because he couldn't stand the way people acted around him. Like he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.

It was why he got along so well with Tony initially. Tony had trusted that Bruce would be able to control his emotions. It left him idly wondering if the Keeper knew of his… ability. She acted as if she knew nothing about his alter ego, but he could tell she knew  _something_  about him. She knew his name, and she knew he held the official title of 'doctor'. He just didn't know how far her knowledge of him went. He could only hope that, should she not know already, that she wouldn't change her opinion or actions around him once she did learn of it. He had found a friend in the young girl rather quickly and he honestly didn't want to experience losing another friend. He wasn't sure he could handle it.

"You're tiptoeing big man. You need to strut." Tony smirked as he strode away from Bruce and towards the Keeper. Tony, for all his projected self-confidence, understood Banners need to be completely accepted. Despite all the airs he put on, Tony very rarely interacted or engaged with the people surrounding him. There were a select few he trusted with his true opinions and feelings, and even then he was hesitant to open up to them. It was why he was so good at dealing with the media. The person the media often tore down was nothing more than a cover. Where Bruce chose to hide physically, Tony chose to hide emotionally. Captain Rogers, it seemed, never bothered with hiding, and had no real understanding of what it meant to single out Bruce as he so often did. Where the Captain saw it as being cautions, those who experienced it saw it as a way to, for lack of a better term, bully someone.

"And you need to focus on the problem Mr. Stark." The Captain snapped. He'd dropped the original argument of 'not messing with Bruce'. He could tell it was pointless when Bruce himself said it was fine. He could only hope that Tony didn't continue to push the boundaries. He'd seen videos of what the 'Other Guy' could do and he couldn't stand the thought of that happening again on a highly populated air craft. Even worse is if it somehow got to a highly populated city. The Captain wasn't sure if he could beat the Hulk, and he didn't like the thought of fighting what was essentially Bruce.

"You think I'm not?" Tony asked. His tone betraying just how annoyed the Captain's statement made him as he grabbed the silver bag of blueberries from the Keeper's hand before pouring about half of the bag into his hand and handing it back to her. "Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?" Stark fired off one question after another. His tone hard as he glared at the Captain. "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" The Captain sounded incredulous. Like he had trouble believing that Tony couldn't trust Fury, his commanding officer, so to speak.

"He's a spy. Captain, he's  _the_  spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Stark stated, directing his last statement, because it was a statement, not a question, at Banner. Banner seemed somewhat lost and a bit uncomfortable at being pulled into the spot light again and began stuttering out an answer.

"Uh," Bruce stuttered slightly, gesturing at his area of work as he tried to weasel his way out of picking a side. He might have control of his emotions, but it didn't change the fact that he'd prefer avoiding confrontation altogether. "I just want to finish my work here and…"

"Doctor?" The Captain cut off Banner's rambled explanation. The Captain's words held a no-nonsense tone to them. It was clear that he wanted to hear Banner's true opinion. Banner paused a moment, thinking over everything before letting out a resigned sigh and taking off his glasses. Fiddling with them a bit before folding them and holding them in his hand. The Keeper could only assume that this was something Bruce did often when talking about something serious.

"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Bruce began his explanation before pausing.

"I heard it." The Captain urged Bruce to continue his explanation. Bruce hesitated only a moment longer before looking up and meeting Tony's eyes with his own. Tony was standing next to Banner again and was munching on the blueberries he'd taken from the bag he gave the Keeper.

"I think it was meant for you." Banner told Stark. Stark simply extended his hand, wordlessly offering Banner a blueberry as he turned to look out the large window that made up almost half of the wall directly opposite the door. Banner glanced down at the snack before shrugging and grabbing a few as he continued his explanation. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" The Captain asked, honestly a bit lost with the drastic turn the discussion had taken. "That big, ugly-" He paused at the look Tony gave him. "Building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arch reactor," Bruce stated as he focused his attention on the glasses he was fiddling with. "A self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded, quickly finishing off the blueberries he had in his mouth before answering.

"It's just the prototype." He answered before to Captain Rogers, a smug look in his eye. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." The Keeper rolled her eyes at that, making Tony smirk. "That's what he's getting at." Tony explained to the Captain.

"So," Bruce continued, "why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" He questioned, drawing everyone's attention to the oddities of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files." Stark stated as he walked around the table and began checking on some random readings on one of the monitors hanging from the ceiling.

"I'm sorry. Did you say-" The Captain began to question, only to get cut off by Tony, who had moved to stand in front of him. One hand full of blueberries and the other holding a small square inch and a half wide screen that was displaying readings of some sort.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge." Tony admitted in a matter-of-fact fashion. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide." He told the Captain before glancing down at the small pile of blueberries still in his hand. "Blueberry?" Tony offered the Captain, making the Keeper giggle slightly. She'd remembered a little tidbit her sister had told her about Robert Downey Jr. hiding food around the set and pulling it out at random moments to snack on. She smiled as she continued to eat her own blueberries and watched the conversation going on in front of her.

The Keeper couldn't help but wonder just  _what_  she was going to do here as she watched. Sure, she was a Time Lord, but that didn't mean she had any super powers to use to her advantage in the fight in New York. She couldn't worn S.H.I.E.L.D. about the Chitauri attack and Loki's plans. It was a fixed point in this universe's time line. She wasn't sure  _how_  she could tell, but she could feel it in her gut. The invasion needed to happen. The most she could hope to do is help evacuate people.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." The Captain's harsh tone pulled the Keeper from her musings and she couldn't help but frown at the insult. Tony had become something of a friend to her in the short time they've known each other, and she could never stand people insulting her friends. The only thing keeping her from voicing her dislike of the Captain's words was Tony's counter.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?" Tony asked, making the Captain turn his gaze away from him. Something he seemed to do when he was bested in a verbal battle. "Historically, not awesome." That managed to bring back the Keepers smile. It was a good point. If used in a bit of a twisted context. The Captain seemed to take a second to gather his thoughts and emotions before turning back to Tony.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." Captain Rogers stated. "We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following's not really my style." Tony countered before throwing the last of the blueberries in his hand into his mouth. The Captain's jaw tensed at Tony's words as he regarded the man with a look of clear disproval.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" The Captain tried to make a jab at Stark's habits.

"Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?" Tony easily countered the Captains harsh words. Though the Keeper couldn't help but frown at his words. She didn't much like the Captain's attitude at the moment, but she couldn't help but feel that Tony essentially calling the Captain useless was uncalled for. So, with a heavy frown still on her face she raised her hand, drawing Tony's and Bruce's attention to her and making the Captain turn to see what drew the scientist's attention from him.

"Well Tony. I'm kinda useless at the moment. Though I'm not wearing a spangly outfit. Suppose I could get one though. I wonder if the TARDIS has any…" She mumbled that last part to herself. The Captain seemed somewhat speechless by the woman's odd words and couldn't help but wonder if a 'TARDIS' was something new to this time period, or specific to the girl. Tony cocked an eyebrow at the Keepers statement and opened his mouth, ready to defend her presence before getting cut off by Bruce.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you." Bruce interjected, sensing the Keeper's attempt to stop the impending fight and deciding he'd try and help her out. The Captain paused and seemed to think over Banner's words carefully before returning his gaze to Stark, making Tony turn his gaze from the Keeper and settle it on the Captain once again.

The Captain seemed to think deeply a moment longer. "Just find the cube." He ordered before quickly leaving the room, pausing at the door and giving the Keeper one final glance before leaving.


End file.
